"work" it out...

last but not least, i had one final baby shower a few weeks ago thrown for me by the ladies at work. my job is great, but it's especially great to work with a bunch of women who love children and love babies and be pregnant. everyone takes care of you, wants to truly know how you are doing, how you are feeling, etc.

two of my coworkers, jena and amy, threw this shower for me. it was so fun, and the meatball hoagies were delicious!! they had the shower at jena's house, which was the perfect place for all of us to hang out. and jena just had a baby a little over a year ago, so i got to get a sneak peek at what my life (and my house) will look like very soon.

it was great to hang out with everyone outside of work. jena and amy did a fantastic job with the shower. everyone got together and gave us a whole bunch of gifts. and probably because jena just had a baby, the gifts were EXACTLY things we still needed. i had gone to our baby registry a few days before the shower and made myself a list of all the "essentials" still left to get. and it was almost like they saw my list and used it when they shopped for my presents.

a very fun shower indeed......now if we can just get everything washed and put away before the baby arrives....

times are a changin'

is it a sign that i have a pretty sizeable belly when people start asking "how much longer?" rather than "how far along are you?"??? and when i say people, i mean pretty much everyone i come in contact with. the bagger at kroger, the lady at the gas station this morning, small children, etc. you name it, they've asked me. luckily, not too much longer. don't get me wrong, being pregnant has been fantastic. but having a baby WITHOUT this giant belly will probably be a little bit more rewarding. not to mention more comfortable.

shower #3

meg and megan threw a FANTASTIC shower for me over labor day weekend.
get it? "LABOR" day??

anyway, the shower was amazing. they held the shower at meg's mom's house, which was such a beautiful and comfortable place to have a shower. and all of my favorite ladies were invited. it was really cool to see some of my girlfriends from cincy hanging out with some of my college girlfriends. it made me realize how truly lucky i am to have such a great support system.

the shower was amazing. we had a sit down lunch, and they had fantastic food and drink, including Pink Grapefruit Clearly Canadian. for those of you who don't know, that drink is probably the closest i've come to a "craving" during this pregnancy. it was fun to sit around the table and chat and laugh and just hang out. and then, they had the funnest thing ever. each person at the shower picked a holiday or a "first" for our baby (easter, mother's day, etc). they then designed a onsie for that holiday, which our baby will wear when each special day arrives. the onsies are fantastic. there were some great ideas, such as angie's mother's day onsie that reads, "my mom can beat up your mom".

there were so many details and fun things that made the shower so much fun. but my favorite part was just hanging out with all the girls. meg and megan have been such supports for me for so many years, and the way their support has continued through this pregnancy has been unbelievable. i can't wait til it's their turn!!

Baby #3 is Here

Our friends Janet and Brent had their baby today. Another little girl in the world. They welcomed Ella Grace at about 6:30 this morning. Trying to think.. I think that might mean we are next in line... I'm probably forgetting someone, but if we're not next, we're certainly very low on the list!

classes

tomorrow we have our first class in preparation for this baby. we have a breastfeeding class from 10-12:30, and i'm pretty sure that joe would HAPPILY give up his spot in the class if anyone would like to go in his place. i hope that the class is helpful, but i've heard that a class on breastfeeding isn't all that helpful. i kinda wish this class was something i could take WITH my baby, like before i leave the hospital. i know there will be lactation consultants and nurses in the hospital to help, but seems like for something like this, the more hands on the better. and then next weekend we have our all day, crash course on childbirth. we were going to take that class spread over 6 weeknights, but they cancelled the first one we signed up for, and the only other one offered before our due date conflicted with a Bengals home game. THE NERVE! so we opted for the all day version. we'll see how that goes. i'm sure we'll leave that class looking like deer caught in headlights. which i imagine is the same way we will look when we head back to the hospital when it's time to actually go through childbirth.

Baby #2 has arrived

That didn't take long! Our friends Ryan and Kara had thier little girl (Lyla) last night on Sept. 12th. And the domino's begin... Next up I would guess is Brent and Janet and that could be any day now!

Baby #1 Has Arrived

Beating the Vegas Line, Tony and Emily welcomed Jackson this afternoon, several weeks ahead of the best laid plans. Don't have a lot of information yet, but it sounds like Mom and Baby are doing well...

It's really exciting now.... as much as it's exciting for Melanie to be pregnant and other friends to be pregnant, it is somehow much different now that the babies have actually started to arrive. It's going to be a whole new world very soon, and I can't wait.

Mary Lou 1-0 - Who Dey

Mary Lou was able to pull the Bengals through a tough one last night. The Bengals won 27-20 over the Ravens in Mary Lou's first regular season NFL game.

I am pretty sure she enjoyed it thoroughly, and she's anxiously awaiting attending her first game where she'll be able to actually SEE the game, instead of just hearing it.

"Om"

so i have been attending a prenatal yoga class with my other pregnant buddies stacy and anna. well, attending might be stretching it a bit. i've gone to 4 or 5 classes during this pregnancy. but let me just say, it's probably the best thing i've done for myself thus far. sure, i eat decently well and drink tons of water. i take my prenatal vitamins and talk to my baby. but the yoga, i'm convinced, is good for both the baby and me.

i'll admit, the first time i went to class and the teacher asked us all to chant "om" at the end of class, i almost laughed out loud. i actually couldn't even bring myself to do it. i just pretended to close my eyes, and then while everyone else was chanting i snuck a peek around the room.

the further along in my pregnancy i get, the better yoga gets. at the beginning of each class, we go around and everyone introduces themselves, says how far along they are, and then shares about any physical aches or pains that have been bothering them. the instructor then tailors the class to work on people's ailments. two classes ago, i shared that i felt like i was running out of room for all my internal organs. :) so that class we did several moves that focused on stretching out and opening up to create more room. and i swear, i left there feeling like i was 6 feet tall.

the other thing i love about it is that there is something very empowering about sitting around a room with a bunch of pregnant women. maybe it's the hormones, but it makes me feel like i am a part of some special group or something. so special, in fact, that i have even started chanting "om" with the group at the end of class. but i still peek around the room.....i can't take it TOO seriously.

"showered" again...

so i had my second baby shower two weeks ago. i knew it was going to be good when i heard my mom took time off of work to work on the final preparations. this shower was thrown my mom's side of the family, including my mom, grandma, and aunts. it was fantastic. our baby's room is decorated in pink and green, so my mom made sure that EVERYTHING at the shower fit with that theme. there's nothing like a family shower.....a little rowdy, a little loud, a little crowded, and a WHOLE lot of love. i actually cried a little bit on my way to the shower, just thinking about being in a room full of people who love me and who already love this baby. the shower was beautiful! the food was delicious (especially the trifle dessert that my mom made that i ended up eating right out of the bowl with a spoon at the end of the shower). the games were fun, and again we got so many AMAZING gifts. one thing that they did that turned out really incredible was that they had everyone at the shower write a note to the baby on a baby blanket. i think i might try to get it framed, it's really pretty neat to see. so thanks to mom (and company) for all your hard work. the shower was fantastic...