Shower

The baby shower was amazing! I can't believe how much work my mom, Debbie, and Diane put in! The decorations were adorable and the food was scrumptious. We also want to thank Pam and Jennifer for helping set up and bringing the balloons and cake. We received so many awesome gifts, way to many to list. We are all ready to bring Tori home! Thank you so much everyone, we feel so touched by the outpouring of support and well wishes! Pictures will be posted soon thanks to Bob Trammel, the official photographer of the event.

Pictures in the park

We wanted to have some maternity photos taken but we've had a few unexpected expenses pop up so we decided to just go out to Washington Park and have my brother Jeff take a few pictures. The bump is becoming a mountain! At my 32 weeks appointment the doc said I've got baby all the way up to my diaphragm so there's no where to go now but out. I'm currently wishing I was a few inches taller :-)

The nursery is almost finished!

All the furniture has arrived and been moved into the room (thanks to Brian and Jeff). My mom did some stenciling by the crib, she did a little flutter of white butterflies. They look so cute, I want to add some more in a few places around the room!

Poor Brian has spent hours hanging wall letters, shelves, and pictures, installing the light kit into the ceiling fan, putting up curtains and blackout shades, moving furniture around, and his favorite activity (painting). He has done such a great job! Its very very very girlie with lots of little details. We still have a few things to do, like find a hamper, put in a changing pad, and add some more butterflies, but its finally coming together. Baby Tori, I hope you love pink! :-P

These shelves will eventually hold all her books and toys, but for now we just have some little accessories up there.

This wall still needs something, I just haven't figured out what to do with it yet...
I can't believe we only have around 7 weeks left to wait! Victoria should be around 4 pounds at this point, and she should be about the size of a pineapple! We can really tell how much she's grown when she tries to lay sideways. You can see her pushing out on both sides of my belly! She is almost always head down with her feet up between my ribs. She does very little kicking now as she's starting to get pretty cramped, but you can see her little feet pushing out or her squirming around through most of the day. She is very active during the day and is very calm or sleeping at night. She really has been a great baby so far! I've really only had a few nights that she has kept me awake and that's usually when I'm tossing so she can't get comfortable either. We can't wait to see what she's like after she's born! Not too much longer to wait!

I heart spring!

Not really anything to do with the baby.... but yay it's finally spring!!!!! (and not raining every day anymore). I would love to do a ton more gardening this year now that I actually have a place to plant after adding our flower garden last year but getting down in the dirt is getting more and more difficult. Maybe next year! For now I'll enjoy my beautiful planters :-)

Weekend in St Louis

We had a 3D sonogram done, and the technology is amazing! Unfortunately she was in a bad position to get a good picture of her face. There are distortions in all the photos because of either the cord or placental tissue in the way. From what we could see she has chubby cheeks and full lips. It was so adorable watching her suck her thumb and yawn while we were changing positions and poking her to try to get a better view. The little bumps in the pictures are placental tissue.

We really want to thank Jim (Brian's dad) for getting us tickets to a Cubs/Cards game!! We had a blast! My mom got me a maternity Cardinals shirt for Easter that says "Mom's future fan." It is too cute! We also ran into my brother who went to the game with some of his friends from school. The weather was perfect and the it sure was exciting. Pujols hit a gand slam and we stomped the Cubs 8-2!! GO CARDS!!!

After the game we went to the Cheesecake factory with some of my KE friends from college. The food was amazing and it was so great to see Arpita, Sarah, and Susan!! I miss those girls so much!

3rd Trimester!

I can't believe we only have 3 more months to go!! We're starting to get antsy now that the nursery is almost done. We've picked which hospital we will go to for the delivery (St John's) and preregistered for our stay, we've set up everything with our pediatrician, signed up for Lamaze and a breastfeeding class (we've already taken "baby basics" and "birth and beyond"), had our car seat professionally installed, and starting getting the house ready for life with a baby. We've made lots of preparations and have a list of the few things which remain (buy a deep freeze so we don't have to grocery shop quite as often, paint a few things, have the carpets cleaned, etc).

I feel huge at this point... I don't know if I can take 3 more months of growth! Standing for an entire 8-hour shift is no longer possible without some serious fatigue afterwards. Luckily I am blessed with a job where it is possible to sit for a short bit now and then.

I am so thankful to finally be working at one location! The store in Jacksonville is great, we're not too busy, the staff is wonderful, and I love my job! My biggest blessing though is Brian, he has been so great. He takes such good care of me both physically when I'm tired and emotionally. I am so lucky to have such a loving and understanding husband. I know he will be an excellent dad and will continue to be a great husband. I am so happy with where my life is right now!! I wouldn't change a thing!!

The most awesome feeling ever!

Baby Tori is finally getting big enough that you can see her movements from the outside! Brian got to feel her move for the first time a few weeks ago. She tends to be the most active in the very early morning, she has started waking me up around 6am most days with big kicks. I have been wanting to get one on video for a while now and this afternoon she had some play time so I got to capture it on video! They're not very big, but if you look closely you can see her move where I push. Definitely the coolest thing I have ever seen!! Thats our baby girl in there!