Baby Luca

Hi all. This is our little Luca. Shelly is still in the hospital so there will be more to follow in the next few days when she is out.

Merry Christmas! 40 3/7 weeks

Merry Christmas!



Christmas has definitly sneaked up on us. It's hard to believe that it's here - I guess we have been preoccupied with other things on our minds lately. I actually went into work for a little bit on Christmas Eve - the office was dead, and the people that were there weren't doing much (as to be expected...I mean who works on Christmas Eve anyways?!) I arrived just in time for morning tea, and left after unsuccessfully trying to check my emails - IT had already frozen my account. Everyone was surprised to see me still in one piece. Later that afternoon James and I headed out to his Mom's place at the beach. We ate, and ate, and ate and sat outside in the sunshine.
More parting belly shots.

We were hoping he'd be early...then we figured he'd arrive on Christmas...but now...who knows? Look how big I've gotten just in the past month! People keep calling me every 15 mins to ask if I'm feeling anything, and at least a few times a day I hear 'oh, the baby is still too high' or 'they'll let you go about 2 weeks over'....I have to admit these comments are getting a bit tiring. Everyone thinks they are an expect on babies. I had a friend who just last week was near tears b/c her midwife said 'you've got at least another week to go' (she was already overdue) and then 2 days later she had the baby! So it just goes to show that this whole birthing process will happen when it happens - no matter what anyone says, or how much tea I drink, walking I do, or warm baths I take.
And more food at Jo and Bruce's house! We were also joined by Pete (James older brother), Pete's girlfriend and her three kids. Bruce's son and fiance also joined us. It was very laid back, and after dinner we opened a few presents. We spent the night there and the next morning attended church with James parents and had a lovely brunch together. More gorgeous food!

Then it was back to our house - and what do you know Santa had visited and filled up my stocking with goodies. James also got me some gorgeous jewerlly and a neck massager (to help at the hospital). Perfume and big white fluffy towels were from Grandma...yay!!! James opened a DVD recorder from me and instantly went to work setting it up - we spent the evening watching a few rented DVDs and curled up on the couch.

The baby also had a gift under the tree - a high chair from Jo and Bruce! We had orginally hoped he'd be here to open it himself, but instead I had to pretend he could see it out through my belly button as I explained to him that b/c he was being stubborn, we were opening the gift for him. ha ha!

We briefly visited a few more members of James family and went for a long walk together. That about sums up our Christmas. It's the 3rd Christmas James and I have spent together (4 if you count Antarctica together) and it just keeps getting better and better. Our main gift to each other this year, is of course a new Baby Boy. I think he might just be a little late, that's all. I'm feeling okay - a bit sore, and baby is moving around so all is looking good.

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful day surrounded by friends and family :-) Wish I could see everyone back home in the States. Lots of love, and Christmas hugs!

XOXO Shelly and James

Exactly 40 Weeks!

Today is THE DAY.

The 23rd of December...the day we have been looking forward to since the end of April.

We are so excited that this day has finally come, and now it's half way over and still no sign of baby wanting to come out. I guess he's just too comfortable where he is. It's okay though, I'm still feeling well and I who would of thought I would be swimming laps the day the baby is due?! I've been frequenting the swimming pool in a bid to stay somewhat active, and hope that the movements might encourage baby to come out. We are both starting to get a bit impatient....we just can't wait to meet this wee little man. Everyone keeps saying 'oh...it may be a christmas baby - wouldn't that be HORRIBLE.' (as if this thought hasn't crossed our minds for the past 9 months...duh!). We've already decieded that we'll be celebrating our sons birthday at another time of the year. Even if he was born today...it's still too close to Christmas. So the lucky thing will most likely get a little gift on his real birthday, but the big celebrations will come in early Dec or Jan sometime.

I wish I had a newborn photo to show everyone today, but instead you'll just have to imagine what he may look like today....It's hard to imagine that he'd be very comfortable in there - looks pretty squashed to me!

I better get back to feathering the nest...still a few things I want to get done today around the house. James is outside digging a massive hole in our backyard for our new landscaping project - which I'm leaving pretty much all up to him. He's using his father's 'digger' (think mini bulldozer thing) so it making a big mess - but he does look pretty cute driving it around. Oh, goodness...soon there will be two males living in this house playing with tools and boy things!

Mom, Dad.....don't worry...I PROMISE we'll call as soon as we get to the hospital :-)

Checklist time - only a 2 days to go!

Here's one of the many photos of James and I at 34 weeks pregnant. We loved our photo session, and have a few nice pieces of new art to remind us of this magical time.

I've had 2 days of maternity leave thus far, and I'm lovin' it. I suppose I am to be resting in preperation of 18 weeks of nursing, crying baby, and sleepless nights (bring it on...I'm ready to get this party started!) but it seems like there's just so much to do still.

This week has been a week of 'lasts.' Next time we (fill in the blank) it won't be the same. Next time we want to go out to eat, go grocery shopping, want to sleep in, go to the movies....the anticipation is killing me. Bring on the baby!!!

So in between soaking in the bath, drinking Rasberry leaf tea - it's suppose to help your uterus or something like that - doesn't taste bad either!, and pottering around the house I've made good progress on the never ending checklist of last min. pre baby checklist

• paperwork sorted for American citizenship (our lucky boy will get dual citizenship)
• sheets and new baby clothes laundered
• bathroom and house cleaned
• Baby seat installed into car
• eyelashes tinted
• forms ready to add baby to health insurance policy
• Life insurance purchased (to do today!)
• Found new tenants for rental house
• New driveway - ha...that actually probably won't be finished in time, but James is working on it
• Pre-baby photos organzied (to do today!)
• Swim at outdoor pool (to do today!)
• Visit Daycares and get on waiting lists (doing that one today!)
• Sorting out trip for Dad/Fran
• Minimal Christmas preperation - town is a zoo right now!
• Baby fully developed and ready for the outside world (already done!)

Oh, gosh....I forgot to mention the earthquake! Last night a little after 9pm I was taking a bath and I felt the biggest earthquake of my life. It was a 6.9 and even though it's epicenter was a few hours away, it shoke the house (and the bathtub full of water that splashed around everywhere) for a very long few seconds. It seriously sounded and felt like a car was raming into the house. I was all alone, and very scared...I just tried to remain calm - too hard for me to jump out of the tub at this late stage in pregnancy. No major damage in Palmy, but it was still a bit freaky. I'm surprised it didn't scare the baby out of me right then and there!

Last Days of Work - Baby Countdown begins

The baby is officially due this weekend - can you believe it?! Well you probably can, but we can't! We are completly ready to welcome this little man into the world, and can't wait for him to arrive, but it all seems a bit surreal. It seems like just yesterday we were saying "I can't believe we're having a baby"...ha... I actually STILL say that...or It seems like we were just at week 14 and week 40 seemed like ages away! Where has the time gone? Now we must just sit back and wait....and wait....and apparently it's very common to be about 10 days past the due date - then on day 11 they call you 'overdue'. We'll just see what happens before I start worrying about that.

Good news - ankles don't look like cankles anymore (at least not tonight) and I'm still a bit uncomfortable, but nothing unbearable at all. I've been spending a bit of time at the pool recently. Its such an incredible feeling to be weightless in the water...that combined with the sound of kids playing, the water swirling around me, and the warm sun on my body officially makes it feel like summer. Not only do I get some exercise, but I also get tan! Perfect :-)

I can finally breath a sigh of relief now that work is almost over. Tommorow is my last day and also the day of the unit xmas party, so it will be a breezy last day. I've been wanting this day to come for the past month or so. This past week I've been busy training my replacement and going from meeting to meeting, and getting everything in order for me to be gone for 18 weeks. I'm usually a bit protective and controlling of my work, but for once....well I don't care. The events will happen (and our new family will no doubt attend most of them) and things will happen with or without me. I'm confident in the systems I've put in place, and my replacement as well. Work has been incredibly supportive of the pregnancy, and they will be flexible upon my return. So...I'm feeling very content and happy right now. You know what else makes me happy? James! He had flowers delivered to me at work today! Gorgeous wonderfully smelling Lilys. My favourite!!!

Sorry no photos this week - but hopefully soon there will be something more interesting than my big belly to post! (did I mention my belly button is completly flat now???) Speaking of bellies... This past weekend I was at one of the City Events - Christmas in the Square - and had to get on stage with the Mayor and a local Radio host to announce some prizes. I was on the huge screen - all blown in up for the 5000 audience to see. I bet my belly would've looked massive then. Where's the camera when we need one?! Ha ha!

I'll give an update after we visit the Dr on Wed. Hopefully the baby will be engaged by then.

38 weeks and extremly bloated!

As of today exactly 13 days to go....give or take a few. And to be honest, I really wish this whole thing would start happening. This past weekend I went to visit some friends in Wellington that are about to move from NZ (yes...another two of my friends are leaving the country! 1 to go to Brisbane, Australia - she's also preganant, and another friend off to Dubai) A bit sad to see everyone go. I hated being away from James for the night. I started to feel a pain in my side and was wandering if this was 'it' and trying to figure out what I should do if my waters break in the movie theatre....and how would I get to the Palmerston North hospital?! But....no nothing happened. It was just a boring movie, and I think I had been sitting too long, and started to get uncomfortable. From here on out James and I will only be a short phone call apart from each other- I feel more comfortable knowing that he's around.

I had always thought the swollen ankles of everyone else in my anetnatal group (by the way....4 of us have already had our babies!) was pretty funny....until it happened to me. To my horror my feet have turned into 'cankles', and are all red and puffy. I can barely wear shoes anymore and it's not just my feet - my lower legs are all swollen too.... so disgusting and uncomfortable. We just got back from our weekly Dr. appointment. All is okay - baby hasn't 'dropped' yet, and no he won't induce me this week - I had to ask him. So now I'm thinking the baby is going to be late. I'm uncomfortable, tired of work (another week and a bit to go) and ready for the baby to come....so it's only natural that he won't...right?

Virtual shower - American Style

Here's some photos from the American 'Virtual' Baby shower - hosted by my wonderful Aunt Elaine (thank Elaine!!!!) Through the wonders of modern day technology we used Skype to do a live feed from St. Louis to New Zealand - so I could see and talk to everyone at the shower. It was the next best thing to being there! I so wished I could have joined all of you in person though!
A photo of my Grandma Loomis and cousin Melissa - she has a gorgeous boy, Kohen, that is about 1 and 1/2 - much of our new son's wardrobe is thanks to Kohen :-)
Some of the cute outfits that Grandma bought for the baby - I tell you he's going to be one styley little man. Everyone at the shower brought gifts and my mom opened them up in front of the computer for James and I to see - it was great, but I can't wait till mom comes over in late Decemeber and I can actually have a play with everything. BAby stuff is just so fun!
I now feel that we are all set for the baby to arrive - we have enough gear, clothes, and diapers to last us a while, and of course endless supplies of love, attention, and cuddles to go around for a lifetime. Now he just needs to arrive! Thanks for all the gifts and hand me downs....it's quite a lot of gear you need for a baby - at least for numbe 2 we'll be a bit more prepared (but there's no rush on that anytime soon! ha ha)

I think mom is going to bring over some of the wrapping paper from the gifts so that we can line the baby's drawers with it. Family and Friends in the states also participated in the Baby Lottery - to guess when our son will arrive...the closest to the actual time/date will win some fantastic NZ goodies!
Mom - the official gift opener of the afternoon.

Yummm! How good does this look. I wish I could have had a piece!!!! hope you all enjoyed it. While everyone at the shower had amazing food, I sipped on apple juice champagne, and James brought me a pastry from the bakery behind our house. (it was 8am on Sunday morning NZ time)

Ha, ha...look who it is!
Wooo- hoo! We definitly needed one of these :-) I wander if mom will be able to fit all this in her suitcase?! Good thing there's a generous luggage allowance for travel to and from NZ and the USA. Thanks mom...you the best!

And on the other side of the world....James and Shelly enjoy talking to family from the comforts of our simple living room. I miss everyone, and can't wait to bring the new baby to the States after he's born - Most likely while I'm on maternity leave...so perhaps in March or April?

thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who attended and helped organize the virtual shower - it was lovely, and really made me feel like I was back home. XOXO

3 weeks to go!

This past weekend was the Palmerston North Christmas Parade (one of the event contracts that I manage at work). It was a brilliant day, filled with sunshine, thousands of people, and Chirstmas spirit. James and I spent the whole day in the Square enjoying the festivities...here's a few photos....


Ohhhh....cute! The penguin from Happy Feet

Ohhh....cute...James playing with the babies' new play gym. Erin sent this to us last week - we had fun opening it and setting it up - apparently these are good for 'tummy time' and development for the baby
Yep.....I have gotten bigger! In fact, my belly button is an official outtie now (and quite sensitive might I add) but I still feel fairly good. Getting tired, and a bit stressed from work...but other than that all good. I'm not sure what I"m looking forward to more....maternity leave or the baby arriving! Obviously the baby.


Other news....baby is getting bigger and still moving around quite a bit. Head still down, but not engaged yet. Soon - hopefully soon.

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

Okay, so even though I just wrote all about Thanksgiving - we decieded THIS was THE weekend to put up the Christmas Tree. I had been waiting 7 months for this...b/c once the decorations go up....that means the baby comes out - yay!!! And the house HAS to smell yummy, so I baked some cookies for the decoration night.

Did you hear that baby?.....the tree is up, so now you can officially come out! Come out, we can't wait to see you! Hmmmm....I don't think it's working....



A bit harder to bend over when you got a belly full of boy! This year we also had several of Grandma Rosie's decorations to add to our tree, and will pass these down through our new family when the time comes. We even had a Christmas CD playing in the background - but it was a poor quality burnt CD and kept making strange crackling sounds. After our eardrums couldn't take it anymore, the xmas music was replaced by Simon and Garfunkle...the next closest thing to Chirstmas music?!
James sorting out the lights. Oh! Did I mention that we got our pregnancy photos proofs back? They look AWESOME - I mean, so gorgeous. Now we have to sort out which ones we want to get printed. It's the first time James and I have had professional photos taken with each other - and can't wait to do it again. The photos almost had me in tears - yeah, that sounds super cheesy, and perhaps it's the hormones, but they just look so good. I'm glad that I got them taken a few weeks ago, b/c now that there's only 4 WEEKS LEFT, I'm feeling really big and yucky. I didn't feel like this until I saw some photos James took of me tonight. He keeps saying that it's just baby, and it's normal....but I don't know...I'm looking pretty fat right now (I'm obviously not showing you the FAT photos). So I think I'm going to try and be careful what I eat the next few weeks.
This is called a pahutekawa (spelling?) tree. They call it the 'NZ Christmas tree' b/c it blooms around the holidays and it bright red and green. They actually look quite cool. This week we've got an ultrasound - had to push it back a week, and also a Dr's appointment. Can't wait to see what our son looks like - and hopefully they will be able to tell me how big he is. Don't want that head getting too big now...

Thanksgiving Weekend - gobble gobble

Friday was Thanksgiving in the States - Dad rang me from the St. Louis Thanksgiving celebrations - sounds like all the family got together to have a big meal, and I could hear lots of people (and kids) in the background. As you know, Thanksgiving isn't celebrated here, and I do tend to miss the holiday - after all Pumpkin Pie is like my all time favourite food, ha ha! James and I celebrated our own mini Thanksgiving by going to a new resturant that we had been wanting to try out. We had a great meal, I got the chicken (they don't really eat much turkey over here. I thought that b/c it was a bird, it was close enough to the real deal), and James got steak. It was a cute little cosy candlelit resturant. We even had apple pie and ice cream afterwards!....well okay the dessert was from the McDonald's drive through but it was still a special treat for us. The reality of romantic dinners out will soon be a task that will require babysitters, so we are trying to take advantage of the next few weekends of being babyless.

The rest of the weekend was good - really good. The weather has been gorgeous (I heard it was snowing in St. Louis?!) and although we had no plans we got a lot accomplished. We cleaned the house, painted the fire surround, attended a few BBQ's, packed the D Day (delivery day) hospital bag, etc....I'm dreading work tomorrow. I'm just not into it anymore. It's been hard to focus when I 've got other things on my mind, and to be honest...I just can't be bothered anymore. I'll be glad when the 18th of December roles around - that's officially my last day but James thinks I should take off a bit earlier. I'm beginning to think he's right, but just have so much to do at work before maternity leave starts.

So I said the weather was getting warmer - well it's been amazing, has REALLY lifted my spirits. Random people off the street keep saying...oh, goodness you must HATE this heat being so pregnant (okay...it's only about 20 degrees celsius....I don't know perhaps that is 80F?) Funny people think it's a heat wave or something. Ha! I'm loving it. It makes me wonder if pregnant people just complain all the time. Am I supposed to be moaning about the heat? My swelling ankles, and fingers? The fact I can barely reach down to turn on my computer in the morning? The sharp pain last night that felt like I was being stabbed in my side? I admit it hasn't been all peaches and cream, but generally I'm feeling good. Haven't been sick, and have had a smooth pregnancy. I'm just wandering if I'm supposed to be complaining more or something. Oh, well...guess I should consider myself lucky:-) And for the record...no the heat isn't bothering me (but those poor poor people that are really big and pregnant in the middle of the Florida summer....now THAT's another story!)

Oh, here's a photo of Karlyn and Mois deck...it's just about completed and they hosted a big bbq for everyone tonight. Looks good, doesn't it?

35 Weeks!

James and I made these cookies a few weeks ago for our antenatal class and also the baby shower. Well...I baked them and we both decorated about 100 of these things. Kinda cute, eh? Onesies, stars, and bears. It was the first time James had ever decorated cookies before, and we made a Sunday night out of it.

35 Weeks - we can count the weeks left on one hand now...CRAZY!

We are seeing the Dr every two weeks now, and went in last Monday. He seems to think all is going well, and the baby is head down in the right position. We will be doing another scan this week (yay!!!) to see what he looks like, and also to get some more measurements done. James thinks that we are actually a bit earlier than Dec 23rd - so perhaps the scan will give us a different due date. We'd love it if our boy came a bit earlier - but guess we just gotta be patient.

Tonight I attended a 'modern cloth nappy' exhibition at someone in my antenatal groups house. These nappies are all the rage in NZ - more cost effiecient and definitly better for the environment. After listening to the sales women and all the other expectant mothers for about 2 hours....I'm not entirely convinced that they are the way to go. Don't get me wrong, I'll get some to try out on our boy when he's a few months old, but there's no way I'll be using cloth from the get go. I think our lives will be hectic enough without washing nappies everyday. Oh, my goodness....I'm saying nappies instead of diapers...(that's a NZ term).

Many of you know our friends Karlyn and Moi who had their twins at 24 weeks (this is REALLY REALLY early!) They've been in the Ronald McDonald house in Wellington for the past 3 months while Jaycob, their son, was in the Neonatal ICU. They have just come back to Palmy this weekend. To make a long story short.....James and I organized for all of their friends and family to chip in money so that we could build their dream deck. We thought it'd be a great homecoming gift, and make their lives a bit better this summer or whenever they can bring Jaycob home. It's been a massive fundraising effort, and with the help of the army, friends and family.....the deck has started! It wasn't completed by the time they came back home, but it should be finished soon. It's a massive deck - this is only 1/3 of it! Moi and Karlyn where totally blown away. It feels good to organize something like this for our close friends. They've had a pretty tough few months, so this was the least we could do for them.

Hopefully for the next post, I'll have some new ultrasound pics to post! 35 weeks (give or take some...I can't believe it!!!!)

Baby Shower!

This picture was taken last weekend before James and I attended opening night of a local theatre production...look at the sensible pregnancy shoes...no more high heels for me!


Two big highlights for this week...


On Friday James and I got did a pregnancy photo shot - hopefully we'll get at least one good photo from the lot - which we'll frame and hang up in our house. The photographer does some amazing work - we'll definitly be taking our little man to get his first photos taken at the same place. James isn't a fan of having his photo taken (which is why you don't see all that many of him on this website....but me on the other hand....well I admit...I'm a bit of a cheese when it comes to having my photo taken!) but he did extremly well at being a 'model' for the camera.



The other big highlight.....


THE BABY SHOWER!


I was a bit down about not having a traditional shower with family and friends back in the States, so with the help of my mother-in-law to be, Jo, we threw a pretty cool shower. You see, showers aren't big in NZ. In fact most people that were invited to the shower had never even been to one before. I was suprised at how many people showed up - about 24 in total. Lots of co workers, and friends of mine and Jo's. Thanks for sending the gift Mom (here I am opening it!) LOVED the goodies...wish you were here with us!!!

It was all women, but James came at the end to help open gifts. It was nice having him there to join in on the fun. Prior to the gift opening we had a lunch with lots of champagne (punch for me!) and played a few silly games, while a beauty therapist friend of mine went around giving everyone massages and eyelash tints. Jo and her friends did an amazing job with the food - it was divine. We also asked all the guests to bring an item for the baby time capsule...which we'll give to our 'grown up man' at 21 years old.
We got lots of cute baby clothes and gifts - I can't wait to dress up our little boy in all his new clothes! The weather turned out to be really nice, and everyone sat outside. It was a fantastic afternoon, and everything went really smooth.
Oh, yeah...we also found some really nice but inexpensive furniture for the baby's room - we got an insurance payout for something else and had a bit of money left over which paid for the changing table (which is actually a dresser) and a nightstand. So....the room is almost complete. Will post a few photos when we are finished...probably another few weeks or so. We are on the lookout for an inexpensive rocking/feeding chair. The new ones seem to be so expensive!

All in all, a fantastic weekend. We can't believe we only have 6 weeks left. I'm still feeling okay, although I'm starting to feel a bit tired, and well....big.

Pregnant Elf - 33 weeks

Yeah, I know...it's a little early for Christmas! This photo is from a retail promotion called Shine on Palmy that I created to get the CBD retailers to do a bit of joint promotion, and make our city a bit more festive around the holidays. City Council Elves and the mayor (he's the one in the red tie) went around visiting shops delivering scrolls and gifts of white lights to the shops. Community voting will occur for the best window, and the shops can win thousands of dollars. I've got the radio and newspapers also involved. I was so exhausted after the promotion launch - walking around town delivering boxes really wore me out!

Last Monday our anetnatal class did the hospital tour. It was alright - was good to see where it was all going to happen. It was a bit crazy b/c a women from our class was actually IN labour as we were doing the tour...she's about 1 month ahead of the rest of us. The strangest thing about the whole hospital visit was thinking that the next time we pull out of the hospital there will be a little one in the backseat with us! Well....at least we thought so.

We made an unexpected visit to the hospital tonight (Saturday). I've been having these really bad pains today, so James made the call to go to the ER. We were immediatly wisked to L & D and hooked up to machines and stuff. Good news is that all is well and they think it was just Braxton Hicks (fake contractions that the uterus does to prepare itself for the real day). Baby's heartbeat is healthy and it looks like all is okay. At least we got to make a practice dash to the hospital. James wants to time out all the different driving routes!

Not only is baby okay, but we even made it out of the hospital in time for the our opening night theatre tickets that we had. We'd like our little boy to arrive early...but not this early. We still got 7 more weeks to go (where is the time going?!)

Summer's on its way!

Saturday night we visited James' parents at Foxton Beach - which is about 25 mins away from our house. Their house is right on the beach, and when we woke up this morning, it was gorgeous weather so we all went for an early morning walk. The weather really lifted my spirits as the past 3 weeks have been non stop wind....like hurricane gale force winds, but here they just call them 'gale force winds' and everyone goes about their normal routines. Anyways...look how gorgeous it was today?! I can't wait for summer to arrive....and well the baby (8 more weeks!)

This is Jo and Bruce's back yard...nice, eh?

We've had a busy week - I've been swamped at work, wondering why I've taken on additional tasks, when I already have so much to do before I go on maternity leave. At this stage I'm planning to work right up until the birth, but I'm already realizing that I would like a week or so to rest and prepare for the biggest change in our live...ever!

Saturday we had our Practical Parenting class - this is part of our antenatal classes. They bring in a newborn baby and show you how to bath and dress it, and give you all kinds of practical tips about carseats, cots, bassinets, baby products, diapers etc. It was a really informative class, and we both enjoyed it. Each couple was a given a baby - and I've got to brag about James a bit....he won the diaper change competition. Of course it was just a doll (otherwise I think he might have dislocated a shoulder or two) but it was still kind of fun.

Labor Day weekend! Not ours...but the NZ Holiday

31 Weeks - outside house - look how big the belly is looking now (some days it looks big, others it looks small - all depends on what I wear). I am constantly amazed at the random belly comments I get. One day it's...'oh, you are so small for 31 weeks...you must be having a small baby' - ha ha, fat chance! I was a big baby AND so was James, so I'm expecting the worse - and the next day someone will say....'Wow...you are REALLY popping out!' - well, duh! that's what happens when your're pregnant. The comments keep me amused as they can be different each day.


We had a glorious 3 day weekend (it's Labor day in NZ) so we made the road trip up to Auckland to visit friends we hadn't seen in a long time. It was so nice catching up with everyone and just feeling like we were getting away, and especially good to talk to my friend Caroline who is 20 weeks pregnant. It's good comparing notes on pregnancy, talking about what the best baby products to buy, etc. So nice to be able to have friends going through the same thing that James and I are. We also visited Karie and Simon - they haven't joined the pregnancy club yet, but do have a fur baby - a very spoiled cat :-)

Auckland is about 6.5-7 hours North of Palmerston North, but James and I kept each other amused the entire car trip - talking, singing to the music, making stupid jokes, and just being silly. He really is my best friend, and there's no one I'd rather spend the rest of my life with -even long car rides are fun with him. He's going to be a fantastic father too! I'm really looking forward to seeing him in that role.

We came back from Auckland to spend a day working on the house. James worked on the tiles for our backsplash in the kitchen - we also have some really cool glass moisaic tiles that will be the next layer on top of these creme ones. While he tiled, I cleaned, scraped, sanded and painted the window in the babies room. We've decieded to work on that room next, as the baby could realistically come any day now.
Here I am in my glamorous painting outfit - The belly is definitly bigger now, and my back has really started to hurt.....even during the day when I'm sitting at work, it hurts. Not fun. Oh, yeah...tonight in our anetanatal class we watched THE VIDEO. It's was a 'natural' birth from the 1970's and the women looked like a horse that was dying...well it definitly looked less than pleasant. When the head was crowning...well I thought I was going to puke. I just keep telling myself that there will be drugs available and I won't have to watch what is happening...I'm just going to go with the flow. But still the video has made me a bit more nervous than I was before. James thought the video was okay - of course he'd say that...he's not the one who has to endure the whole thing! I think that's the last video I'll be watching for a while - ha ha!

The Big 3-0!

I can't believe how fast time has gone by! We're now at 30 weeks, and it seems like just yesterday we were only at 12....and that means we've been back from the States for about 10 weeks now (no wonder the tan is completly gone).

Every Monday night we have our antenatal classes - which is quite entertaining to be in a room full of other pregnant couples expierencing the same things that we are going through. We've both been reading up on pregnancy so much of the classes is a review, but we have learned some interesting things from the class....like how to get the baby in position, and exactly when to ask for the epidural before it becomes too late!!! (which is one of my major concerns...I definitly will be asking for drugs (if I feel as though I need it....and the gas - who could resist it? James has never had laughing gas before...I'll have to let him try some!) Apparently next week in class we are watching 'THE VIDEO' - yuck!

We've just come back from our 30 week dr's appointment and all seems to be doing well. Baby is head down, kicking and moving a lot, heartbeat strong, and no signs of prenatal diabetes. My iron was a bit low, so I've been given some iron tablets but all else is looking good.

Little Santa Baby

Okay, tell me this little onesie is just soooo cute. I was at Farmers last week (the major department store in NZ) and they were having this big Spring sale where everything was on sale. I just couldn't resist getting this set of 3 outfits - I've wanted to find a red outfit to bring out baby home in - a little Christmas outfit. Although looking at the striped outfit it kind of reminds me of 'Where's Waldo' ha ha. I've been trying not too purchase any more baby clothes b/c we already have a fair amount of used items and well the baby doesn't care what he's wearing but sometimes it's just so hard to resist. I justified buying this for 4 reasons

1. It's RED - perfect for Christmas (hey I could've got a santa suit!), AND....if our next baby is a girl....she can wear it too!

2. It was on Sale

3. It had the side snaps - which apparently everyone tells me is easier to get on than over the head ones - but who knows

4. It's for the BABY - I don't feel guilty buying him clothing...especially when I can't fit into super cute clothes anymore.

Speaking of Christmas....on Sunday morning it felt just like it. At 8am the All Blacks were playing France in the quarter finals of the World Cup (the game was live from Europe, which explains why the whole country was up at the crack of dawn getting ready to view the game on TV). We hosted a small group of people at our house to watch the game and eat a big breakfast together. We have this great projector and pull down screen in our lounge for watching movies an sports games - it really does make it feel like you're at the theatre or bar with massive screen. Anyways....this wasn't just any game. It was the game of the year. The whole country watched it (the Rugby world cup only happens once every 4 years) and as most of you know, Rugby is THE sport of NZ. Bigger than anything else - almost like a religion. Seriously.

To make a long story short. NZ lost. We were expected to win the whole thing and we were knocked out of the quarter finals. All of NZ has been in a bit of a depression since Sunday. The stock market is expected to slow, the morale of the country has been crushed, the coaching staff have all resigned, and well basically...it's not good. But...it's just a GAME. NZ will snap out of it (eventually).

It reminded me of Christmas though b/c everyone got up early, ate a big yummy breakfast, and all sat around together - except we were all glued to the TV instead of opening presents. Give me Christmas over Rugby anyday! Especially THIS YEAR - yay!!!!

Last Saturday we attended an engagement party for our friends, Karl and Kylie. This is a picture taken at the party with James, his mom Jo, and stepfather Bruce.

Sometimes I almost forget that I'm pregnant - except for the kicks that remind me every now and then - but the other guests at the party couldn't let me forget. Being pregnant is like having a constant ice breaker with strangers - everyone likes to comment on my belly, and some go so far as even touching it! If I wasn't pregnant and someone touched my belly I would be a bit put off - after all it is a pretty sensitve part of the body. I think the next person that touches my belly I'm going to ask them to rub my feet as well! Ha ha! No seriously, I don't mind it that much, or talking about baby stuff to random strangers - after all it is pretty exciting. What did I talk about before we were pregnant?! Hopefully post baby I'll be able to remember, and I'll have a flat stomach and have to come up with other ice breaker for meeting strangers at parties.

Monkey Business! Here's our wee little man's new bed - cute, eh? We were so excited to get home last weekend and put it together. Even though we don't have the mattress yet (that's this weeks purchase) I couldn't resist putting all the bedding in it - just to see how it would look. Fortunatly for us the walls of this room are already blue so it matches perfectly.

Sunshine

28 Weeks - but who's counting?

Today is daylight savings for NZ (thank goodness!!! I'm really not a fan of the Palmerston North winters....at all!) The gov't decieded that NZ need 4 extra weeks of summer sunlight, so this year they have started daylight savings 2 weeks ahead of schedule. It makes it so much nicer to wake up to a warm, sunny house and before we know it the evening BBQ season will be upon us - yay!

Nothing too eventful has happened this week except that I got a stomach bug and was in bed for 2 days unable to eat anything. That was pretty miserable. Of course I read up everything in our baby books to make sure it wasn't someother baby complication thing, but after visiting our Dr, I was reassured that with time it would go away. The thing about being sick with a baby is that you are afraid to take any over the counter meds...so you basically have to wait it out. When I regained my health, James and I went down to Welly to visit Karyln, Moi (it was his B-day) and baby Jaycob - who looked about the same size as last week, but seemed to be doing better :-).

We also bought our next big ticket item....a cot (crib) for the baby. It's perfect, exactly the kind we were looking for. I had been searching the internet for weeks to find a used one at a good price, and lo and behold we found one. Not only is it in great condition, but it was also very inexpensive - a little victory for us. More money to spend now on the mattress, change table/drawers, bouncer, rocking chair.....

Our Boy's First Friend

On Thursday, I went down to Wellington to visit my friend Karlyn and her newborn, Jaycob. Karyln and her husband are good friends of ours, but we haven't seen as much of them lately as they have been down at the antenatal intensive care unit over the past month. Jaycob was born VERY premature. He's gorgeous, but T-I-N-Y and obviously needs lots of special care until he can go home. Jaycob was only a few weeks ahead of our boy, so looking at him was like peeking at what's inside my stomach. It was quite odd, b/c as soon as Karyln showed me Jaycob, our boy started kicking....REALLY hard. (I usually don't feel him moving around much during the day when I'm up and about - but all the time in the evening and morning). It was almost as like our boy knew we were visiting the premie babies, or perhaps he knew we were visiting his future friend. Maybe he was jealous and wanted to be on the outside world too! ha...he better stay inside me!

Speaking of which.....we've just come to the realization that we have about 10 weeks left....then he 'could' be born! That doesn't seem like long....where has the time gone??? 10 weeks doesn't seem like much time to finish the house stuff, get the babies room in order, have a baby shower, etc!
This is a very silly picture of James. Today City Council opened up a section of a walkway along the riverway which is part of a nationwide walking trail. There were speeches, lots of walking, and then afternoon 'tea' (muffins/cookies/tea/coffee/juice) for the public. It was a gorgeous day to get out and about and this is a picture of James looking like a Tucan Bird....no, really, his hands were already full with muffins and coffee - so he was bringing me my juice his mouth...still it does look pretty funny. Ha! Maybe we should post this on his election website....ha ha.

House and belly progress

Hi Everyone - 26 weeks and still feeling good! I've had to box up some of my pants that wouldn't fit anymore -but I'm enjoying a few of the comfy but styly maternity clothes that I bought when I was home. Baby is still kicking - especially early in the morning and at night when I'm in bed. I'm beginning to wonder if this is his way of telling us he'll be waking up early and going to bed late - I hope not! Oh, well...better get used to it now. The baby also mysterysiouly kicks whenever the 'c' word is mentioned. Circumsiscion (spell?) Had a discussion about it with some work friends, and sure enough as if he was listening he started kicking REALLY hard. Poor little guy...

We're still busy with campaign stuff (James has another meet the canidates speech this week) and also with house stuff. Kitchen is slowly coming along. There's a pic of me in the kitchen -we still need to tile the backsplash, put in toekicks, put in more lighting, paint, and get the window treatments up - but it's getting there. Look at the dishwasher! A first for James and I. James thought he wouldn't be a fan, but has now joined the 'dark side' to liking convienance appliances with me. He says it's nice being able to hide away the dirty dishes - and now wouldn't ever look back.

Also a pic of dining room - we repainted, wallpapered the lowered bit and put in new curtains (THANKS MOM!) All we need is a nice light above the table. Once the election is over we'll have more time to devote to finishing up the house.