Arrival Update

After today's appointment, we can basically guarentee that Weston will be born sometime in July... in the next 13 days to be exact.
He is in all the right positions to be born, I'm just not progressing very quickly at this moment. So, either we work together and he comes on his own in the next 13 days, or the doctors intercede on July 30th.
We have another growth check next Wednesday, with all final decisions being made on Friday the 25th.

We're Ready and Waiting...

It's done (all but a few shelves.) His clothes are washed and put away. All his blankets, etc, and everything is ready!!! Very exciting. My parents and Aunt and Uncle came this weekend and totally re-vamped my world. My Uncle re-organized my entire garage (a HUGE deal) and fixed my unhappy garage door openers. And then he reinforced all of my shelves in my kitchen cabinets!!! And my Aunt Linda pretty much reorganized my entire kitchen (I even ended up with an extra cabinet) with the help of my parents. My Dad redid my entire pantry, and my Mom came to my doctor appointment with me and then she and i organized Weston's room. Scott was pretty much at everyone's "beck & call." He did the yard, most of the heavy lifting, and anything anyone asked of him. He also went through a lot of the "stuff" that made it's way into the trash can. And Friday, he took 3 boxes and an entertainment center to the Goodwill!!! Finally that entertainment center is out of the house! Trust me, after this weekend, I am in amazement of my family, and pretty much hold them on the highest of pedestals. Here are pictures of Weston's Room (minus the shelves.)

VIEW FROM WESTON'S DOOR

VERY NEW AND COMGY CHAIR & OTTOMAN (IT STORES BLANKETS!)

WESTON'S CRIB AND TURRET OF ANIMALS

THE CLOSET DRAGON AND MIDIEVAL MIRROR

THE CHANGING TABLE & OUR FABULOUS NEW DRESSER

And for those who haven't seen me lately, but hear my complaints about my size... here you go. This was after work last Friday. In my defense, I may look huge (try to find my missing Ankles,) but I'm still down 4 pounds from Thanksgiving. So, there is that happy thought.

Weston Update

Here's the general update on Weston and his impending arrival.

I've been having Non-Stress tests twice a week for a few weeks now. And West is doing great! Basically they look for 3 reactive movements from West. He has to move, his heart rate has to increase and it has to stay increased for at least 15 seconds before coming back to normal. The problem is that when Weston moves... he really moves! As in, he moves away from the monitor. :) But we've learned a few tricks along the way.

At our last appointment, they did an ultrasound to see how big West is getting. They have estimated him to be 6 pounds already (!!!) and it makes some sense since i gained 5 pounds in a single week. :( So, I am trying to monitor everything i eat, and keep him healthy. We have another ultrasound on July 17th. At this appointment, we'll determine if it's in Weston's best interest to make an early arrival, and whether or not he should arrive in the normal fashion or by c-section. Should be fun since Scott has to work, and I'll be at the appointment alone.

Mom and Dad came by the weekend of the 21st. They got the bottom of the room painted. Mom became very sick, and was admitted to the hospital Sunday the 22nd. She is doing better now, but my parents stayed with us from Tuesday (when Mom was released) until Friday. It was nice having them around. And... Dad and Scott got the changing table painted and the crib put together. Yeah!!! I painted the bricks on the castle walls this last Saturday, and then proceeded to sit in the room and try to mentally picture where everything should go... not as easy as it seemed. Trust me. But I did take some pictures... not very good ones, since i used my cell, but here they are:

Castle Walls

Castle walls with furniture

Iowa Floods

Well, I'm sure that all of you have heard about the flooding in Iowa. Heck, some of you were probably hurt by it, I know many were. Luckily, we live in Bondurant, which used to be a corn field, and is next to Altoona which is apparently the highest point in Polk County. And we don't have a basement, so for once that worked in our favor. But... it's been a crazy Spring/Early Summer here is Iowa. Check out some of the craziest pictures here: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/06/mississippi_floodwaters_in_iow.html

Here's a picture of a tornado...

Weston's first Baby Shower

Ok, so I know that I said that this was coming a long time ago, but things just got away from me.
My sister and some friends from work threw me a co-ed Baby Shower for Weston (located at work) on April 19th. It was a lot of fun... though I now know which baby games are ok, and which ones are just plain mean, as well as the fact that the women with 8-10 month old babies are obviously going to win any baby food smelling/tasting identification contest. But anyways, Weston got some amazing gifts, including over 40 size 0-6 month onesies... and yes, I will admit that we did receive a few duplicates, and that I exchanged them for the exact same thing only in a larger size. On a side note, we cleaned out West's room this weekend, and that might be why I am finally getting to this particular blog. : )

Here's a look at the fun we had:

<---- This was our cake. We are going with

a Mideival theme of Dragons and Knights for Weston's room. You know... to bring magic, loyalty, honor and courage to a boy's youth.

Shannon and Traci put together the Tower of Ballons. --->

These balloons were great! I took them home where they proceeded to fall to the floor within 24 hours. But I kept most of them for a scrapbook.

<--- Shannon was the first to actually taste the baby food during the identification game. She still didn't win.
That's my Chi O Sister Melissa (Fisher) Spencer with Shannon. My Chi Omega "Big Sis" Marinee made it to the shower and Jayme Johnson did a drive by (quick hello, hug and gift drop off. It was still great to see her!)

--->
Family came in from Clinton for the Co-ed Shower!

That's Uncle David, Aunt Linda,

my Mom, Mary Anne and my Dad Chris.

My mom is unrolling toilet paper to play the horribly evil game of guessing how many TP sheets equal my size around my waist. Horrible game for the fat girl,

even if she's pregnant.

<--- We received so many presents for West. This is just one of many creatively and beautifully wrapped packages that our friends and family brought for us.

Here's another gift... West got a baby gym! --->

This way he can have tummy time as soon as he is ready!

Thanks so much to all of our friends and family who were able to make it to the shower, and for all of the gifts! West is definitely going to be the best dressed little boy for quite a while!

Weston is still A Boy!!!

The last 2 Saturdays have been filled with Pictures!

We chose to have a 4D Ultrasound done so that we could be sure that Weston was doing great (the diabetes issues) and so that we could be absolutely sure that he is a boy. And believe me, he left no doubt in our minds that he is a boy! I've always said that he snuggles down as deep as he can when he wants to, and we actually watched him do it! He buries his face into Mommy and hides from the ultrasound! Vindication is great, but really annoying when you pay $150 for pictures. :)

Here's a look at our Baby Boy!

"Cash & Prizes"
He's Still a Boy!!! And he has no problem sharing that part of him with the World.

Weston's adorable face! He weighed 2 lbs, 7 oz here.

His Cheeks are so Chubby!!!


His foot is measuring at 2" long already! And we have 11 weeks to go!

Weston's left profile. I think he has my nose and Scott's face shape.

What do you think?

Mommy's Little Rocker!!!

Scott dropped Shannon and I off in Cherokee Saturday night for Jess' Bachelorette Party. He did his own thing and we joined Jess and 7 other ladies for a Girls' Night Out at the Lakes. (For those of you who don't know Iowa, the Lakes are Spirit Lake, Lake Okaboji, and many smaller lakes north of Spencer, Iowa. It's the Iowa version of Minnesota.) We had dinner and then ended up at some bars. Long story short, dinner left a lot to be desired. It could have been a wonderful time, but our server was awful, and some of the food/drinks needed to be served in a timely manner.

So, we ended up at a bar 2 floors underground of a building called the Emporium. First of all, the men in North West Iowa are much better looking, and they pack into the same buildings. Very convenient. So we were herded to a table by a slightly odd man, positioned right in front of the band. I have never been to a concert while pregnant, our loudest event was a hockey game. So, of course Weston got all quiet and stopped moving around. That bar ended up being a bust (drinks weren't great, $1.50 for a 6oz Diet Coke!!! and the band was too loud.) so we moved on. We ended up at the Captain's "Something." Great bar, lots of chairs, free Diet Coke (!) and an awesome band! They played a few '60s, more '70s, lots of '80s and some from today. As we're hanging out, some dancing, others just talking and listening, "Paralyzer" by Finger Eleven comes on, and my son wakes up. He starts moving around more and more. A few songs later, Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name" starts. And West really got going! He started kicking to the beat of the main Bass Drum! As a former Percussionist, this was awesome! He kept time, kicking away. He'd take a few bars off, rest, and start right back in, in time to the music!!! I have little rhythm, Scott has less, so this was very exciting! (Check out the Video for the song: http://www.bonjovi.com/bonjovi/media_videos.php )

And when we were trying to show Scott in the car Sunday, West started right back up again when he heard Bon Jovi. It was hilarious! Mommy's little Rock Star!!!