32 week appointment--time is running out!

Today we had our 32 week check up. Everything is going really well. Apparently, the tension I have been feeling in my abdomen has been Braxton-Hicks, which is totally normal at this point. The doctor did my uterine measurements (as always) and I am measuring 32 cm which is exactly where I should be at this point. Can I just say that it is 1) very odd to know the length of my uterus and 2) very freakish that it is 32 cm......that's more like a femur than a uterus! We are at the point where we start going to the doctor every two weeks for a little while and then we pick up to every week. The time is flying by, and we are trying really hard to be productive at work and home to get everything ready for the new addition.

I passed my glucose tolerance test and today I had the anemia test. As far as I can tell, I am done giving blood to the vampires....seemed like every visit I was in there giving 2 vials of blood.

In other news, in the waiting room today, this woman announced to another lady that she was seeing Dr. Dawson (my doctor) and that he had induced her three friends a week before their due dates and she thought that he would probably do the same for her. What the Heck? I am not thinking that I want this to be over any sooner than nature wants it to be. I guess that might change as it gets closer, but I kind of think that I want to let this baby get completely cooked before she is born....call me a crazy hippy.

Belly pictures from 30 weeks (or so)

Here is a pregnant belly picture from 30.5 weeks. I have a new picture to post, but it isn't very flattering......I will get another one taken and post that too.....again, I am SUPER-sized. I still haven't put on a ridiculous amount of weight or anything, but it is all in my belly and the frontal projection is getting out of control. See for yourself.

And now from the side.
And now after Kyle told me to give him a "real smile".
Here is Kyle looking quite proud of his photographic skills and Kale looking like he loves the whole world.

Catching up Part 2

The second shower was hosted by Allison, the wife of one of the graduate students in Kyle's lab and a really good friend of ours. She is wonderful....and is one of those people that can host a party for 50 and make it look like child's play. She makes homemade tamales for crying out loud! Anyway, when we got to her house, I was blown away by the super-cuteness of everything. Best snacks (YAY! because I was starving), cutest decor, best shower game prizes....seriously, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. OH---and I am not a fan of shower games, but everyone loved the "identify this baby food just by smelling it" game. It was hilarious. Did you know that beef baby food looks and smells just like cat food? No wonder babies throw up so much. I was glad that we already decided to do homemade baby food....that jar stuff looked sketchy.
Allison Huie--hostess extraordinaire
The diaper cake
The two toughest sisters in College Station....clearly.
The Puga sisters (Pammy on the left, Denise on the right)

Catching up Part 1

So--the last month has been nuts. Kyle finished his first RO1 grant submission, we had two baby showers thrown for us and were completed overwhelmed by the outpouring and generosity of our friends in TX. Here is the one picture I managed to take from the baby shower thrown by my Junior League friends. The ladies got us a really nice baby monitor and some super-cute baby bath stuff (towels, washclothes, etc). The best thing about the day was walking out of the shower with an entire case of diapers.....in addition to the fancy-pants diaper cake that one lady made for us. I have decided that the diaper cake is GENIUS! There are more pictures somewhere, but you can see some of the ladies in this one.

One of the ladies had the cutest idea....I plan to steal it in the future. She made this really cute cloth pouch with a velcro closure. It acts like a mini diaper-bag for those quick trips or for emergency backup....you can fit two diapers, hand sanitizer and a pack of wipes in it and the fabric is very chic. I am in love. This woman is a family and consumer science teacher at the local high school and is Martha Stewart with a much nicer demeanor.

I have to mention one story....of course. :-). The red-head in the picture was the owner of the house where the shower was held (I want this house when I grow up!). She said that her husband asked if he could have any of the fancy-shower snacks that she made and she told him that he could only have snacks if he brought a gift. Well, apparently, he gave her permission to buy a gift in his name so he could have snacks. When Randi (redhead) got to the store she saw that we had a hooded towel on our registry that looks like a giant shark's head....the child's head goes into the mouth of the shark. Randi said she put down a couple of other things she picked up and immediately bought the shark towel. Her one comment was "I just knew that had to be Kyle's choice so it was a must-have".

Hey! No extra cooks in the kitchen.

Loved this picture from Thanksgiving. John (my brother-in-law) is getting the stink-eye for trying to get in on the preparations for Turkey Day. Guests are required to drink too much, eat too much, and are encouraged to take naps. No assistance required. Next year, when I can have a beverage or two....we will talk. :-)

Christmas with family, New years with Javi

My mom and brother came out for Christmas. It was awesome. We ate WAY too much (see the New Year's picture of Javi, our dog and a white whale...that's me), we shopped WAY too much, and we had a wonderful time. My mom took some pictures of all us kids and I will post those when I get copies....of course our camera was dead. :-)

Here is a picture of Javi and me with Kale. Kale is my guardian at the moment. During my entire pregnancy, he has been "on patrol" and watching out for me. He even gets nervous when Kyle hugs me for too long. Sweet dog.

Belated Thanksgiving pictures....

Kyle's sister Jan and her husband John joined us for Thanksgiving....along with Mary-Charlotte and Jay and 15 of our closest friends. We thought it might be an intimate group of 10 this year...HA! Here are the pictures of us enjoying the last "grownup only holiday". We are looking forward to next year. Do 7 month olds eat fried turkey?....hmmmmm, I wonder. Kyle managed to take ZERO pictures of himself this year. I may have to take over some of the picture-taking responsibilities once the baby comes. She needs to know what her father looked like when she was born! Here are the celebratory pics. I hope you all had as happy a thanksgiving as we did. The baby-bump is in hiding in these pictures but there was MUCH belly-rubbing and everyone talked to the baby at least once during their visit.