32 Week Belly

I have been trying to post my "belly picture" the first week of every month. I am a week late this time, but here is the start of my 8th month!!! I'm getting very excited!

My Church Shower

This was "baby shower weekend." The day after my family shower, I had my church shower. It was also a lot of fun. Again, there were pink Gerber Daisies on the table. I wonder if these will be my daughter's favorite?! Several of the girls who are in our class at church sat around me and helped me open gifts and fought over who got to keep the bows. I was glad to have them around me-I don't really like having that many people watch me for that long! We got a lot of nice things. I am pretty sure my daughter has more clothes than I do and she's not even here yet. Lots of people are excited and celebrating her coming arrival!

Family Shower

My sisters hosted a family baby shower for me today (with some help from mom). It was so nice. Everything on the tables was pink, including beautiful baby pink Gerber Daisies. Emily and Betsy made all of the food which consisted all of kinds of fancy brunch foods. They did a great job. Mom recovered a bassinet for me that had been my dad's when he was a baby and then was all of ours when we were babies. Josh's family pitched in and got several of the large items we needed (stroller, carrier, pack 'n play, and swing). We were really thankful for all of that! I also got lots of cute clothes and things for her nursery. It was a lot of fun and I feel so blessed. Now I have lots of thank-you notes to write!!

Vacation Bible School

Another year of Vacation Bible School has come and gone. The week was a lot of fun and everything went really well, but I can't say that I'm not glad it's over. The weeks leading up to VBS are always really busy for Josh and I worry about him working so much! Hopefully next year, I will be more available to help him with the logistics. We had VBS at the park again this year, which seems to go over really well. We had dinner every night, and we had lesson time, game time, craft time, and even some music time with a live band! It was pretty hot, but I'm just thankful that it did not rain. Everyone was worried about me being in the heat and being pregnant, but it wasn't that big of a deal. I don't think I was any hotter than I would have been if I wasn't pregnant. Anyway, I met some new people and reconnected with some people who haven't been to church in awhile. I think it is a great outreach and hope that it brings new families to church!

First Childbirth Class

Tonight Josh and I went to our first childbirth class and I have decided that we are officially not mature enough to have a baby. We laughed through the whole class. I'm sorry, but some of it was just hard to take seriously. We walk into class and "Kum Ba Ya" is playing softly in the background and there is a teacher who has been teaching childbirth for 41 years. Josh cannot take even hearing female anatomy words, let alone see pictures of those things. Every time she said the "u" word, Josh elbowed me which would make me laugh. She went through the Kegel exercises and actually had us do them-Josh was so embarrassed. She started off by saying, "Ladies, I want you to think about your rectums." Josh burst out laughing. Later we had to lay on the floor and do relaxation exercises. She turned off the lights and read us a story to help us practice imagery.... "Kum Ba Ya" was playing in the background again. It might have been relaxing if I didn't have heartburn, the baby was not kicking so much, and Josh would have been quiet. Basically I spent the whole night trying not to laugh. I don't mean to totally dis the class. There was some good information and I'm sure I learned some things that will help, but overall, it was just funny...

27 Week Belly, Etc.

Here I am at 27 Weeks-the beginning of the 3rd trimester! Josh and I have been working on things around the house for the baby. We got her room painted yesterday to match her bedding. We are going to put up a pink gingham border, but we have to wait 7 days after painting. I also bought a homemade porch swing at a little shop in Danville which Josh stained to match our antique bench for the front porch. Hopefully we can use it a little this year after she's born and lots next year! The last picture is of her tree which Josh planted. We will have to take her picture with it when she comes home from the hospital!

Hannibal Baby Shower

This past weekend, Josh and I went to Hannibal for a get together/baby shower with Jenn and Kristina. We had a lot of fun. When we got there, Grace was disappointed because we didn't have any kids with us, but she quickly adopted Josh as her friend. I think he had as much fun with her and she did with him. On Saturday, we went down to the levy to see how high the Mississippi was. Later, the boys went golfing while the girls had a shower. Jenn and Kris got me lots of their favorite "mom" items--a booster seat, snack cups, wipe-off bibs, silverware, etc., etc. We had a good time catching up. I was really glad we got to go!