37 Weeks

We had the appointment today in the midst of all our unpacking and decorating. We are so happy the truck came on Monday and we were able to get unloaded, unpacked, and settled before Jacob! There are a million pics on Facebook if you aren't tired of them yet.

The doctor said Jacob was doing well with a heart rate of 150. I went from 1cm to 2cm, and from 20% to 50%. Looks like he won't be as late as Natalie!

Getting Ready For Fall

Wandering through Walmart today we decided to grab a pumpkin for Natalie to paint. We'll carve some later, but we've been bored with Ryan working 4-midnight so I thought it would give us something fun to do. I couldn't resist taking some cute pictures in our new yard as well.



When the Talley's and Binning's come tomrorow, we have another cute craft for the kids and one for them mom's. Look for more pics then!

Doctor Appointment

Natalie is getting used to these frequent doctor visits. We came home and all she has wanted to do is play with her baby doll and doctor kit.

Baby Jacob's heartbeat was 130 and he is in the right position for delivery. Things are starting to progress towards labor, which is exciting and scary. The office faxed all my papers over to the hospital so they will have them when I deliver. They also gave me copies to carry with me in case I deliver while out of town.

I just realized that when we travel the next few weekends I'll have to have the car seat and hospital bag just in case!

One month!

Or 5 weeks at the most. Jacob is due October 22nd, so September 22nd makes it seem like it's getting close!! I bought bottles yesterday, since I returned all mine with the BPA information last year. I did find the exact same style, just BPA Free so I was happy to get those. Now I need some pacis, as most of mine are PINK and somehow I don't think Ryan will go for that. My mom got me a matching pj set for Jacob and I in the hospital, it's blue/white striped and so cute!

Natalie and I spent my birthday at the outlets with Oma, and aunt and uncle, and grandpa and Mary. We had fun shopping, checking out the Lake of the Ozarks, and eating at 'bagel muffin' (Panera). Natalie got some overalls, a long sleeve shirt, tights, socks, and an umbrella (her favorite part). I picked up a few shirts for Jacob and a dress for Natalie and jeans for Ryan. I'll go back in the spring when I know what my size is. I'm afraid to buy now and then be over the return timeframe!My mom brought cake which we had yesterday at lunch. We went to 'rice and beans" for dinner last night and Natalie told the waiter it was mommy's birthday so we had fried ice cream. She also sang me Happy Birthday in the loudest voice humanly possible so everyone was looking. And at the outlets today my mom said we were going to "Kid and Baby Gap", and Natalie said "Let's go to Kid and Baby Crap". Ooops.

Ryan's mom knitted Natalie this cute sweater, and a blanket and cocoon for Jacob. We were excited to get a package in the mail after such a fun day shopping. You can see my earrings Ryan was sweet enough to pick out for me as well.




36 week appointment is tomorrow, yay. Once a week, so not many left. I think I'm getting the flu shot too (regular not swine, I'm not sure about that one). Ryan will be able to go with me because he's working 4-11 the next week for a 7% pay increase, woo hoo! Plus he'll be around during the day for when the truck comes!

Birthday Reflections

I'm posting this early because I hope that on my birthday, I am very busy unpacking and organizing my household goods!

This year I turn 28. I guess I'm getting old, because I keep forgetting that my birthday is even coming. It's now only 4 days away. Not that long ago I would have been counting down from the beginning of September. But the move, the pregnancy, the house, and life have just kept me from thinking about me and my birthday!

I've had a lot of whiny blogs and updates lately. But as I think about my birthday, and my age, I realize how lucky I am. I have a wonderful husband who puts up with me and my work-a-holic, nesting induced (maybe?) behavior. I have an amazing 2 1/2 year old healthy and smart little girl. On my birthday, I will be a month away from my son's due date, who is healthy and strong judging by the way he moves around my belly. We have a dog who is happily living outside the house during the day, which really cuts down on my cleaning. We have two new-enough cars that run well and look nice. We have a house that is perfect for us and full of potential for our future. Ryan has a wonderful job, with good pay, good benefits, and great hours for being able to spend time with our family. Our 'old' friends are coming to celebrate my birthday and our house next weekend. Both of our families are a lot closer than they were before. We have family and friends who have been generous with time, money and things for our home.

No wonder I'm not that excited for my birthday, I already have everything I could want or need, (within reason ha ha, I'd still take a million dollars or a Hawaiian vacation)!

So I'm happy to be turning 28, happy with my life. See you on the other side of the pile of boxes!

*BLAH - just found out we are LAST to get our stuff, so the 28th it is! Could have blogged on my birthday lol*

35 Weeks

Jacob measured much better today! Heart rate in the 150;s and moving like a wild man! He measured right at 35cm which is dead on. I will be getting a flu shot at the next appointment, as well as starting my once a week visits! Time is winding down. I've been really nauseaous lately, which the doctor said is probably from reflux/heartburn from where Jacob is sitting. I also asked him about what to do if I get contractions/broken water since I had to be induced with Natalie. He just said go to the hospital and they will take care of calling the doctor.

Natalie had fun at the indoor playdate today - they had several tunnels, a bounce house, probably 20 ride on toys, climbers, and slides. It will be so fun this fall and winter to socialize with mommies and kids there.

Our belongings were released from storage today, and I called to check on a more approximate date than "on or before the 28th". They called the carrier and the driver is going to do his best to get it here by the middle of NEXT WEEK!!! Please pray for us!!!

Natalie's A Dancer

We took Natalie to dance tonight! I even painted her nails light pink to match. Katie, my friend who teaches ballet in Virginia taught me how to do a bun. Here she is all dolled up! She loved it! There is only one other little girl in her class right now, which is probably perfect for all 2 year olds. They only allow 6 at the max. They did scooters, happy/sad feet (point and flex), hands on hips while jumping, tunnels, and a lot of cute songs with actions. First, she saw the guy from registration and ran up to him to tel him her owie was all gone. I cant' believe she remembered telling him the story a few weeks ago! Then she found the teacher and grabbed her hand and tried to pull her in the room. There was no looking back for me for sure! She spent the whole 30 minutes listening and busy! I am so proud of her for being outgoing and following directions so well. Here is another pic and video (maybe?). If not, it's on facebook.

A GREAT mail day!

I love getting mail! Some days, it's bills, but today was FUN!

First, my friend Rachelle from VA sent me a 10 off 50 at Lowe's and a 25 off of $250! YAY. We are there so much it will be awesome!

Then, I got a personalized door mat from my friend Kelly (The Marderosian's). It was so sweet and I love the colors and our names on it!


FINALLY, although this should have it's OWN post...I am SO proud of Ryan. His ASSOCIATE'S DEGREE came in the mail!!! If you look at the transcript, it says Associate's Degree Awarded. I know it hasnt' been easy with a wife, a daughter, a dog, and one on the way, but you did it. I love you!

34 1/2 Weeks

Forgot to add a pic, so I took one tonight. Ignore my messy hair, I am overdue for a haircut and can't decide where to try! I go to an appointment this Wednesday, then I think I start going weekly! Yikes, Jacob is coming soon!




On the house front, our stuff is being picked up on Sept 16th, and will be here on or before the 28th of September. Looks like it will beat Jacob here, yay! I would like to get the last 3 bedrooms painted before we move the furniture in. I finished the master bedroom this weekend. All the trim was painted white, with a chocolate accent wall and tan everywhere else. The only thing I did not paint was the doors because we plan on replacing them with 6 panel soon.





Ryan survived his first weekend of drill, or should I say I survived it? Now 5 days of work and he'll have made it through 12 days of work (well 11 since he was off for Labor Day). And this week is pretty busy...Natalie starts dance and a Tiny Tots Park Playgroup. We have a Parents As Teachers event one evening, a homeowner's meeting, and Ryan has dinner with his Chief! Not to mention library playgroup and a trip for me to KC for Panera, Target, and Hilary! The only piece waiting to fall into place is a paycheck for all this hard work!

Daddy - Daughter Date

Tonight while Mommy was at a meeting Natalie and I had a fun date. First we went to Wal-Mart to try and find some plates for Oma, but there was no luck as they were sold out. On our way out of Wally World there was a quarter machine that caught my and Natalie's eyes. So back inside we went to get change since Daddy didn't have any quarters. Well, after the purchase and application, Natalie has her first tattoo. It was a good father-daughter bonding experience. You can see how much she loves it with the big smile on her face.


We couldn't have been luckier to get a butterfly out of the machine.


See...she understands how fun they are.

Afterwards we got some ice cream from Scoops and played at home before bedtime. She's definitely a daddy's girl. She hasn't stopped talking about it since.
LOVE YOU HONEY!!

Falling Into Place and 34 Weeks

I finally feel like somethings are falling into place. We paid our overage fee on the truck, and should have a delivery date today or tomorrow!! I am SO excited to get our stuff here. We are trying to get a lot of the painting and moldings done before then, so we don't have to move stuff out of the way to paint/caulk/etc. So we'll kind of have a deadline on a few projects soon. Now I'm only anxiously awaiting the last paycheck from Ryan's job or the first paycheck with his new job! We have not been paid for a month, thank goodness for savings accounts!!!

My favorite rooms are the Dallas Cowboys bar - I added a valance and made matching barstools yesterday. I'm also excited for Jacob's room. I found the perfect wooden letters and animals to add to the decor at Walmart!



Nothing too eventful with the pregnancy. I go to the doctor next week. Things are pretty much the same. I am finding it harder to get motivation, and it's a little hard to breathe. I guess when he drops down some the breathing will get easier again. I'm trying to decide if I should sign up for the birthing classes...they are free, so I guess it just depends when they are. I am glad to have his room finished so when the furniture gets here I feel like he'll be all set. We just haven't paid as much attention to the pregnancy this time around so I feel like he's been a little ignored. Between Natalie and the move things have just been a blur!

Natalie has been very sad without her friends. She keeps saying that bunny is sad because she doesnt' have any friends. Took me a few days to realize she was talking about herself being lonely. We thought the indoor park (Tiny Tots) started this Tuesday and Wednesday, but it's next week. So she keeps waking up and saying she's going to the park in the big building to make friends and I have to tell her not today. We were going to just hang out at the outdoor park, but it's rained here the last few days. Poor girl! But, story time at the library is on Thursday and that starts tomorrow. Dance starts on Monday, then Tiny Tots on Tues/Wed.

I found a group for me too, it's at a local church and it's called Girlfriends Unlimited. It's a once a month meeting for mom's. Then there are sub groups you can join that do other things during the month (games, eating out, scrapbooking, etc). So my first meeting is this Thursday so I'm looking forward to that too.

And my other exciting news, we are getting cable/internet today and phone on Friday. YAY! We've been renting DVD's of TV shows for the evenings so it will be nice to catch up with things that are actually on TV, or catch the news once in awhile.

33 Weeks

I got checked out by my new doctor this week, and all still looks good. I measured really small...you shoudl be about the same centimeters from top to bottom of your belly as how many weeks you are. His first measurement was 23 and the second measurement he took was 30. He thinks Jacob might have been stretched a little to the sideways direction, but I guess we'll keep our eye on that. The scale said I lost another 1 1/2 pounds, but I'm pretty sure that's just a difference betewen the 2 scales at the different offices. His heart rate will still good. I'll go back in 2 weeks for another check. This dr. is a family dr. so he will see both the kids, as well as me and Ryan. It will be nice to keep all our info with the same doctor.

Ryan had his first week of work this week. Monday was enlistment and human resources paperwork so Natalie and I tagged along. We ended up having to purchace a 2 week window of insurance because his new insurance doesn't start yet, even though we were told it would. So that's snagged a few things, but we should be all straightened out now. The rest of the week he had some training and things so he's been out early a couple times. He got to use the new riding lawnmower since my parents came for a visit and delivered it.

Natalie had a home visit from the parent educator, and we learned some new activites. She brought some great handouts on dealing with a new sibling. She also brought some things for kids and mom's to do in the area, so hopefully that will help us settle in.

The people with our storage should be e-mailing us on Tuesday to let us know how much we owe, the once they get our check we should finally get scheduled for a delivery. Hopefully we can knock some more things off of our endless to do list before then. We have a lot of outside work to be done, but between Ryan's drill one weekend a month, some weddings and babies coming up, a lot of weekends are filling up fast.

That's about it for now, I'll try to add a pic if I remember! *ADDED*

Time to Slow Down

Well after a little over a month of leave, it's off to a new job for Ryan tomorrow. We have to go to the base and get new id's then travel to a benefits meeting for the afternoon. Picking insurance, savings plans, and all that fun stuff. Tuesday we *think* he will actually start working.

I have to go to the county courthouse and get a waiver for tax to get the plates on our vehicles. Ryan and I both got our new driver's licenses on Friday. Wednesday is my first doctor appointment here in town. Thursday we have a visit from our parent educator. Friday, no plans yet! Hopefully I can do some little jobs during nap, and get a few more nice weekends in September to do some bigger projects before it gets cold and busy with the baby/holidays/special events this fall/winter.

Here's a recap of what we've done since we came down on the 19th.
*Painted the main basement and playroom
*Removed baseboard from upstairs and put it in the main area
*Painted the doors, windows and trims white in the basement
*Sealed the access doors with weatherstripping and new latches
*Painted the stairwell
*Built an arbor
*Installed a dog run for Drake
*Stripped wall paper in the master bath
*Cleaned carpets and floors
*Assembled new family room and breakfast room furniture
*Painted the laundry room
*Painted the kitchen
*Painted the dining room
*Changed all the outlets, switches, and face plates to white
*Power washed the sidewalk and front porch
*Sewed Jacob's bumper pad and valance
*Added 2 overhead lights in the basement bedrooms
*Added a light in the kitchen and changed out a chandelier
*Changed the light in the dining room
*Changed the hall, laundry, and foyer lights
*Added a pool table and 2 bar lights
*Moved 2 florescents into the playroom and put them on the switch with the other two
*Organized the garage
*Hung a few shelves that we had purchased

I think that's *it*. Keep looking for more changes in the months to come! Thanks to my mom, Ryan's dad, and the Binning's for helping us do some of these projects. Thanks to Sam for helping us load some of the stuff that is helping us make due until our truck comes! Thanks to the Rupard's, Jenning's, and Talley's for lending us air mattresses! Thanks to Cathie for the cooking supplies, Grandma for all the furniture/washer/dryer/etc, and my dad for the riding lawnmower! I'm sure there are a lot more people who have helped us out, but my preggo brain is starting to fail!

32 Weeks

I went to my last doctor appointment in St. Louis today. Jacob is still 'looking' good in there. He is head down, and I managaed to 'lose' 4 pounds. So I've only been actually gaining 1/2 a pound a week instead of 6 in two weeks like they said last time! I'm much happier about that.

I've found a local doctor, and will see him this coming Wednesday. But the doctor in St. Louis is still able to see me or deliver in case I'm traveling and go into labor there.

We close on the house tomorrow (yay!) and we came home to a SOLD sign and no lockbox tonight. It's finally happening. Now we just need prayers to get our STUFF. We faxed them, but they have to calculate the difference for cost between our home of record (St. Louis) and here. Then we have to MAIL them a money order or cashier's check before they will schedule delivery. GRRR!

Natalie's A Drama Queen

Literally. We went to sign up for dance tonight and she was talking to the guy a mile a minute. She told him her name, her age, her birthday, her street name. Then she launches into the story about how she was playing outside and slipped and scraped her knee and mommy was looking for bandaids and soap was all over it. The guy asked her if it hurt and she wrinkled up her face put her head in her hands and started fake crying and saying oh my owie, it huuuurts. Then she looked up and smiled. He suggested she enroll in the musical theater class, LOL.

I'm excited about the class for her age, it's called creative movement. They do ballet, tap and jazz basics. They also do some tumbling and gross motor skills. We ordered her ballet slippers today and we will order tap shoes in December. She will also be in the May recital. If you want to check out her studio, it's www.centerstageacademy.org We picked up a leotard, skirt, and tights at Walmart tonight and she's been non-stop talking about it ever since.

We also stumbled upon a craft/fabric store today. It's in the middle of a tuxedo/bridal gown store. They had, I kid you not, a woodland camoflauge strapples a-line dress!!! I told Natalie to pick out some fabric in case we redo her room (we might switch her from the double to the daybed so her bedding may not work out) and she picked out a corn print with cows on it. I said I didn't like it and she said, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH COWS, I LOVE COWS. Guess the country has gotten to her already. She pointed to a fence at a farm the other day and said that fence is for animals to go poop at...go figure!

We're IN

We were allowed early possession as we will not close until next Friday. But with the help of my mom and the Binning's we're getting a start on the amount of work that needs to get done. We've painted the kitchen, powerwashed the front and back patio, de-wallpapered 2 bathrooms, taken down and replaced several lights, painted the playroom and main living areas in the basement, put our mailbox back up, and who knows what else! LOL.


I am a little bit hormonal at 31 weeks pregnant and finding it hard to have so much I want to do and so little I can do. At the end of the day my feet are so swollen. I have a pulled muscle in my wrist from using the screwdriving and painting supplies. We've also eaten out so much already from the selling/moving process that we're trying to eat at home. I have some silverware and one large pan from my mom. I bought some paper platea and a few plastic bowls. But it's really hard to try to cook with so few supplies. We are going to try to put in an order for the truck on Monday, but it will take at least 2 weeks, so hopefully that's accurate.

Anyway, here's a pic if you missed it on Facebook. I'll try to get some more tomorrow when I unearth my camera or my phone.

Fun BBQ

We went to a BBQ for the Jenning's this weekend. We updated our 3 preggo pics. Natalie also got hold baby Allison (The Binning's). She was so happy!




I also went to K-Mart for double coupons. My total was $96 and it went down to $35! I was happy, lots of paper plates and cleaning supplies for our 2 weeks in the house without our stuff from the truck. We should be closing this week so we're going to go up and get cleaning! Thanks to Lynn, Susan, and Tracy for loaning me air mattresses!!

30 Weeks

So this is 2 days early, but I was dressed and cute today so today it is!!! I also have been nagged about not keeping up with my belly pics so I had to hush some people up!!! I will be going to the doctor on Thursday for my 30 week check-up so hopefully all is still going well.



For funsies, here is my 30 week picture with Natalie.

Here's a picture of Ryan as a baby...will this be Jacob??

Back to Deals

Though we are homeless still, I've starting shopping with coupons again. I had $1 off 2 boxes of Froot Loops. Walmart had them for a DOLLAR a box. Well, they rang up .75 cents! So I now have $4.50 on 18 boxes of them, LOL!

28 Weeks and House

I have an appointment today with my first civilian doctor in 5 years! I am excited to get a different opinion of doctors (hopefully) and maybe get some new insight into my tailbone issue.

I will update later today or tomorrow with a belly pic and information from my appointment. Wish me luck! *UPDAATE* Doctor was great, I go back in 2 weeeks. I measured right on and Jacob sounded great. We talked about which hospital I would need to go to if I had the baby early or here in St. Louis, so I feel prepared.

To update you all on the househunt...Ryan and I spent a few days with inspections, repair estimates, trips to Lowe's etc. We asked for a little money off of the sale price to compensate for some work that came up from the home inspection. We need to repair some moisture damage and find a drainage solution (the yard grades toward the house a bit so moisture sits against the wood siding around the walkout basement). But all in all, I think things are going to come to an end soon and we can move into our own house again! *UPDATE* It's ours! Now just the appraisal and closing :-)