It's about time!!

Well hello! I apologize for not being a good blogger...I just haven't been much into the computer lately, but I have a nice long one now to catch you all up, so sit back, grab a bag of popcorn, and enjoy!

Let us back up to early January when Mark and I traveled up north to Michigan for family visits and baby showers! We spent the first few days in Elkhart/Niles and had a great baby shower there. Jenny and Christi, admist caring for their all together seven children, planned an amazing shower for me and I couldn't have asked for anything better! Unfortunatly, I do not have any pictures to post of that shower at this moment. Jenny was nice enough to make me a cd with all the pictures on it, but me, in my usual manner, left it behind. :(. I will add some in as soon as I can! At any rate, there was a lot of good food, good people, great cake, and the little man and I made out like bandits thanks to the loving generousity of my family and friends! After the shower we spent the next few days in town spending time with and visiting family. It was a wonderful blessing to get this time, as it is not very often that we have these opportunities. We also got the chance to a lot of snow before it melted into muddy slush. I rememebered why I loved it...and why I didn't! I do have a few pictures of our visit though. The first night we arrived, the kids (Sydnea, Kyle, Jack, and Emersyn) greated us with smiles and ticket sales for a concert they had been planning for us. We got two tickets to see "The Team" for the low bargain price of two peppermints from Aunt Stephie's purse! Jack blasted the vocals for a song they wrote, and also did some sort of football strumming, Sydnea and Eme rocked out on their guitars, and Kyle laid down funky beats on the keyboard! Makenna did a great job documenting the incident in her paparazzi-style photography! With no further ado, here they are, "The Team."

On wednesday we said our goodbye's in Niles, and headed up to see Marks family in good ole Gaines, MI. Once again, I was blessed to have another great shower thanks to Mary and Mom Norcross. More good food, I got to meet family that I hadn't met yet, catch up with great friends, and enjoy some yummy lemon-coconut cake! And once again, little man made out like a bandit, many thanks to everyone! We got a chance to visit Marks grandmother while we were in town, which was great, and she gave the little man a big stuffed bear which happens to match his bedroom very well! While we were there we got our "gaming" on with some monopoly and scrabble. Mark and his mom were knocked out of the monopoly game very quickly, but his dad and I were in for the long haul....though I eventually lost, I think I went out after giving him my last 8$ towards a $1000 debt :/. Thank goodness it was only a game! We got some good laughs out of scrabble too, of course anytime Mark and Mary are together, goofy things and faces are bound to occur! Please refer to her blog for some asthetically amusing photos of my hubby! Here are some pictures from the shower in Gaines.

Mark snuck out just before the party started with his dad to see a movie. Don't ask about the movie, he hated it. Monique, my preggo-pal, and I saw eachother for the first time since we were about 18 weeks along, and lets just say our bellies have grown! The picture got taken though, before I was done acting goofy...thanks for that one seks...

Our trip concluded that sunday morning when we headed back to Tennessee. I must say, being with family and friends for a week was amazing, but it felt good for us both, to be home that night. Somewhere between the two 9 hour car trips, and tons of good food, I managed to accumulate some unwanted cargo...in the form of water retention! yikes, feeling puffy is yucky! Luckily, my doctor was understanding of the circumstances, and I got it under control a couple days later....but as you will read later on...water retention has been a reoccuring problem as of late. :/. Here are some pictures of the car before we left for home. Mark had to load everything in like he was playing a game of tetris...it was air back there and we were packed in like sardines...thank goodness we didn't bring lucy! Thank you again for everyone's genorousity!

Okay, so now you are caught up to mid January! Only a couple more weeks to go before you are up to date! Should we take an intermission??

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There, feel better now? Moving on, once we got home, I could NOT wait to get everything set up and organized! So, over the next few days I washed all of his new clothes, blankets, toys, bedding, and more! Got everything put into the right spots, and started packing his diaper bag. His room smells like a baby now, which is super exciting! Mark did some daddy duties like setting up the pack n play in the man room, putting together the swing, cleaning up the garage, and moving the big storage stuff out of the little mans closet. Also, he was a great sport and let me practice using my new body wrap baby carrier with him and santa!! (see pic below) Lucy spent nearly this entire time sleeping, catching up from here tiring stay at daycare, where she gleefully frolicked and slobbered with other dogs for ten whole days! Then, we did some final shopping and got our glider & ottoman, snap n go stroller, diapers, newborn size socks, and his coming home outfit! We are all ready now, locked and loaded as they might say, just waiting for the little man to decide he is ready too! We spent nearly all of last weekend at a childbirth class at our hospital. We learned a lot about the unpleasantries of labor and delivery, and got some good newborn care tips. It was also a great opportunity for us to tour the hospital, and we met some other expectant couples...one of which has the same due date! The two days of sitting though led, once again, to puffy hands and feet! I felt like the state puff marshmallow man, and of course, my doctors appointment was monday morning. So I did the weigh-in of shame, blaming it (legitimatly) on the water retention! If my puffiness weren't so obvious, they probably wouldn't have believed me.

We are now 36 weeks pregnant! That means less than 30 days to go (holy parenthood batman)! I am now on weekly doctors visits. I can tell the little man is starting to get cramped in there. His movements have taken on more predictable patterns (i.e. he isn't moving all day anymore, he sleeps, moves, sleeps, etc.) When he is awake though, oh my, he takes my breath away! The doctor said he is head down now (whew) and I can feel him all the way from my bottom to my lungs. He likes to rotate from facing front to back, dragging his hands, feet, and elbows and knees forcefully through my abdomen. This exerts a lot of pressure on me and can be uncomfortable to say the least, but it is an amazing feeling, like nothing else in the world. He also gets the hiccups 2-3 times daily, I never knew that was possible in an air free environment! Here are a couple of 36 week tummy pics! (After taking these I'd realized I hadn't windexed the mirror in a while...oops!)

Since little mans independence day is nearing, we decided to take advantage of our last couple weeks as a "couple" and treat ourselves to nights out on the town. Last night we headed up to Asuka, a japenese steakhouse. Mark was frothing at the mouth at the mere thought of it...I, was reluctant...the only thing I knew of japanese food was sushi...eew. Well, it was GREAT! We sat at one of those big grills along with a funny family of four, and the chef cooked right there for us, and entertained as well! I had chicken & rice, Mark had filet, chicken, and rice. I've never been to a restaurant where it is not only acceptable, but down right expected to have the chef throw balls of rice at you while you try to catch them in your mouth! We had some good laughs, and great food. It seems like cruel and unusual punishment though, that when I woke up this morning I was puffed up like a stressed out blowfish! This, surely, was due to the high sodium content of the sauces used in our food. And wouldn't you know it, I have a doctors appointment tomorrow! So, tonight I am all about tea (which I don't even like) and water....hoping to flush out some of this extra liquid! I'd go again in a heartbeat though! Next weekend I think we will hit up the movie theater! Anyways, if you haven't got enough amusment from oogling at my girth, here is a pick of me on one of our last nights out alone without having to pay a babysitter!

Okay, I'll finish it up with a mushy finale about what a wonderfully loving husband I have. So, this evening about an hour before the superbowl started, I made a comment about my sore feet and how I had pulled something along my ankle. Well, next thing you know, I was sitting on the couch, feet in the warm soothing water of our foot spa! I got a nice soak and lotion massage, and, since tomorrow is my first "down there" check up with my doctor, I thought having pretty toes would make me feel good, so he even painted my toenails for me! It is nearly impossible for me to see my toes, let alone paint them! We both agreed that his paint job was by no means "professional" in fact I believe his comment was, between boughts of laughter, "it looks like a crackhead painted them!" None the less, it was incredibly sweet and I will walk with my head held high! (mostly because I can't reach my toes to remove the polish)! Love you babe!

Well, thats all for now! We will keep you updated about the little mans down & out progress!

Love to all!

p.s. the blog spell checker isn't working, so don't mind my typographical errors!