Delivery Day!!!

And here we are... just waiting for the drugs so we can get things started. I am so hungry and tired... and we haven't really started yet. But we have a room!!!

Arrival Date

The doctors have scheduled a medically necessary induction on Wednesday, July 30th at 5:30am. So early!!! But unless he comes on his own, we now have a date!!!

This weekend

Scott and I chose to make this weekend our "Last Big Hurrah." Basically meaning our last chance to do anything we wanted from waking up until we went to bed that did not revolve around us thinking (worrying?) about Weston. I think it was a tribute to our last 6 years of being a couple, since after this week we'll officially be a Family of 3. (!!!)

We started off the weekend with dinner Friday night at Ohana Japanese Steakhouse. We invited almost 20 people to celebrate with us, and 10 were able to make it. For those of you that don't know Ohana, this is a West Des Moines restaurant where they cook all of your food right in front of you. And it is delicious. As of September, I will have been celebrating my "Big Events" at Ohana for 10 years. My bachelorette party started there, Scott and I have celebrated anniversaries, birthdays, sometimes just a Saturday, at Ohana. It made sense to celebrate Weston' s impending arrival there too. Here's our "banzai" picture:

Ok... so this isn't the clearest picture. A Banzai is a Polaroid snap shot after all.

Left to right, row 1: Chris and Melissa Spencer (XO sister + husband), Scott, Me, Shannon (my sister), and Jason Taylor (friend.)

Row 2: Ken (our Chef), April Barkely (XO sister), Stephanie Stanley (Cousin-in-law), Teri and Kenny Dean (Teri used to work with me at Onthank.)

We had a wonderful time. and the food was fabulous. As usual.

Saturday, Scott and I decided to spend the day alone... one of our "Date Days." We started out at Mercy for our usual Saturday Non-Stress Test. West did great, and we were out of there by 11am. We then proceeded to the Science Center of Iowa to see The Dark Knight at the Blank Dome IMAX theatre. Great movie. Wonderful actually. There shouldn't have been children there, but then again, their parents have to live with those consequences I guess. NEVER see a movie that long, that action packed, on an IMAX Dome. I had a headache through Sunday. It was like watching a 3 hr movie on a Planetarium.

After the movie, we walked through the Science Center - neither of us had ever been. I thought it would be a lot cooler. Like more adult friendly. This was very much geared towards children. I don't think we'll be going back for a few years. But, they did have an exhibit called the Humongous Among Us. It was small, but it was about the largest dinosaurs ever discovered, and no, it wasn't the T-Rex. That's the T-Rex skull "behind" the Big one. I was about 6-8 feet away when i took this picture on my phone.

After the Science Center, Scott and I had over 2 hours to kill, so we went Downtown to Legends and had an early dinner, and then we went to the I-Cubs Game. Alfonso Soriano from the Chicago Cubs was supposed to be rehabbing in Des Moines this weekend, but he never made it down. So we watched 6 innings of a pretty good

game before I asked if we could go home.

(Pregnancy reared it's ugly head, and my legs and feet were so swollen I could barely walk.) On a side note, it started to thunderstorm before we made it out of Downtown, so I obviously made the right choice. :)

But don't we look like we are having a great time? In mirror image thanks to the camera on my phone.

We spent Sunday sleeping in, doing laundry and washing bottles. We watched a movie, and I went swimming with Shannon and Jason. It was an awesome weekend! And we can't wait to meet Weston! Only a week or so to go!!!

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...