36 weeks, Baby Shower #3 & very SWOLLEN feet!

Today at work my coworkers surprised me with baby shower #3! The girls put together a fun hour of games, goodies, and of course … gifts! Since Ryan and I work in the same building, he was invited to the festivities, which was very fun! One of the games was an apple juice drinking contest between Ryan and me… out of a baby bottle! I wish I could have got a picture of Ryan desperately trying to chug that juice from a bottle, but just take my word for it, it was classic! My coworker Joy, a terrific baker, made a scrumptious cake that I was absolutely amazed with. We also got some adorable gifts! Baby shower #3 was a great success and I was again reminded how lucky we are to have so many people around care and help us celebrate Cade!

Parents-to-be with the baby blue cake!

The party planner herself, Miss Tina Potter!

The CUTEST diaper cake ever! Hidden amongst the diapers was tons of baby goodies,
like socks, pacifiers, wash clothes, and toys galore! Loved it!

Lots of gifts for Cade!

Game time!

Today also marks 36 weeks of glorious pregnancy! I cannot believe how fast time is FLYING by. For the most part, everything is moving along just lovely. Cade, and my belly, are definitely growing every single day. I know he is snug as a bug in there because I’m not feeling those powerful kicks as much, rather constant waves of movement. And with 36 weeks comes the lovely side effects. I can hardly roll over in bed, so thank goodness for Ryan. Whenever I need to shift in bed he puts his arm out like a bar and lets me grab on so I can throw my body over. Another fun task is wearing shoes every day. I do fine on weekends, but as every weekly work day goes by my feet get bigger and bigger. Shoes normally fit in the morning when I leave for work, but are definitely a tight squeeze by the time 4 o’clock rolls around. I like to refer to them as elephant feet, others have compared my toes to sausages, but whatever they are, they are not cute! I can’t complain too much though because for the most part, pregnancy has been good to me! Four weeks to go and as always I grow more and more excited to meet the little guy!

Oh, and a work update… My last scheduled day in the office is February 13^th! Just about two weeks to go and I’m dunzo forever! In case you haven’t heard, I am taking indefinite maternity leave to be a full time Mama!

36 weeks!

Elephant feet... cute huh!?

Ladies afternoon Baby Shower!

Two weeks ago my sister Kelsey, with the help of my girlfriends, threw me the world’s best baby shower! Saturday afternoon 30 friends and family members gathered to help me celebrate the upcoming arrival of Cade. We played a few fun games, opened mounds of gifts and chowed down on delicious food. On the menu was veggies, crackers, dips, and everything possible dipped in baby blue chocolate. Also, Kelsey and Laura surprised me with the cutest cake ever! They special ordered it to match the crib bedding, it was absolutely perfect, almost too good to eat… almost! :) It was such a fabulous afternoon and am so grateful to my sister and everyone that helped me to celebrate such an exciting time in my life!

The best girlfriends in the world!

The fabulous host, my beautiful sister and aunty of the year, Miss Kelsey Taylor!

Cade's Great Grandma Elizabeth!

The delicious spread!

The amazing, special ordered, crib coordinated cake!

Gifts galore!

33 1/2 weeks update! (Yes, I am counting halves :)

So things are moving right along the pregnancy! I cannot believe I am 33 ½ weeks already!! I’m to the point now where I’m no longer counting up, but counting down, so just about 6 weeks to go! We had our last appointment at 32 weeks and everything is looking great! We had an ultrasound and found out that no only does Cade have a cute button nose and full cheeks, but he has hair! Ryan was born bold and stayed that way for the first two years, so we weren’t quite sure if Cade would follow in his footsteps. As we watched the ultrasound in amazement (they never get old for us) the technician said, “See all these fuzzy lines around his head? Well that’s hair.” I was super excited! I know babies can lose their hair after their born, so I asked, “Can he lose his hair while he’s in there?”but she assured me that if he has hair now, he will be born with hair! They also estimated that Cade is about 2 weeks a head of schedule size and weight wise, so he is going to be a strong and healthy boy! The doctor wants to see me for another ultrasound at 37ish weeks so we can check in on his size and we’ll see if we need to welcome him early or not. Although we are preparing for a week early just in case, we’re still planning on full term, so we will see! Other than that, he is as active as ever! I've been feeling pretty good too. My only struggle right now is swelling! Since I’m still working full time (only 5 weeks to go!) my feet are downright for 9 hours straight, 5 days a week. I tend to take my shoes off at my desk and recently I’ve had a hard time getting them back on by lunch time. Lets just say I give a whole new meaning to kankles! :) Besides some swelling and a little bit of discomfort, I am really grateful to be feeling as well as I do and am just anxious for the next 6 weeks so that we can finally see our little baby!

33 1/2 weeks VERY pregnant!

Holiday Catch-up!

Things have been a bit hectic lately, but I wanted to play catch-up and post our Christmas! Things were definitely relaxed this year. My mom flew in from Seattle for the holiday and it was great spending time with her. Christmas Eve was all about the food. After a day of last minute shopping, I was exhausted so my mom and Ryan really came through in the kitchen and everything was delicious. After our feast we played games and watched a movie. Christmas morning was very nice as well. After goodie filled stockings and lots of presents, we sat down for a hot breakfast prepared by Chef Ryan! After visiting with our grandparents, we headed to the movie theater in our Christmas Day tradition and saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The day after Christmas I don’t think we left the house once. Ryan was a busy dad-to-be. He single handily measured out, taped off and painted the nursery, which was an all day event. After that he put together the crib and swing. What a stud! Downstairs my mom and I kept busy with the sewing machine. I’ve been saying forever that I wanted to learn to sew so that I could make things for my babies one day. Well Ryan bought me a sewing machine earlier in the year, but until then it was still in the box. I figured what a better way to learn than with my mom. Although she sewed a lot back in her day, it had a been a while, so I was extremely grateful for the time she took to brush up on and figure out my machine and then teach me. After a crash course in sewing, I made 8 burp rags for Cade and got started on an apron. It was a long and fun day and I’m so glad I got to spend it with my mom! Christmas this year was really all about hanging out with family and just relaxing… and I couldn’t have asked for it any other way!

Ryan, Kelsey and my mom preparing the Christmas Eve feast!

Table for four!

Kels and Mom getting their eat on!

Christmas morning- Sister sister!

Mom and me!

Christmas with the whole family, Ryan, me, Bella, Bear and Cade on the way!
(Can you believe this was our 5th Christmas together? Time flies when you're in LoVe!)

31 weeks pregnant!

Sewing ladies!

My first sewing project- burpers for Cade!

Ryan prepping the nursery to be painted.

Painting... done! Crib... assembled. On to the swing!

New Year’s Eve was another low key night for us. We went to the Cheesecake Factory with our friends Matt and Candee and then went back to their place for a movie. Ryan and I got home just in time to watch the ball drop and ring in the New Year just the two of us! 2008 was definitely an awesome year for us, but I have a feeling 2009 is going to be the best yet!

New Year's dinner with favorite friends!

Capping off 2008 with the love of my life!