34 Down, 6 To Go

Yep! That's right! I will get to have a cute little girl in my arms in about 6 weeks. :)

Baby E has passed every doctor's appointment and test with flying colors. I hope she keeps it up. My doctor always says, "Well that was a boring appointment. But as far as baby appointments go, boring is much better than any other option." So, for now I will be satisfied with my boring doctor appointments because that means that everything is just fine.

Not a ton has changed since my last pregnancy post, other than I have diagnosed myself (with the help of Mandi and TJ) with Sacroiliac Joint Laxity, which causes super painful posterior pelvic pain. And I, for the sake of my pride, am going to say that I have it really bad. I am sure that if this issue (which apparently is common) was as bad for other women, I am pretty sure I would have heard a LOT more about it before. I won't complain about it too much on this blog, but if you want to hear my sob stories about this whole thing, feel free to call me. Or call Bryce... haha.

Anyway, here is my 34 week bumpie. As you can see I look about the same as my last photo from back on December 8th, but I definitely feel that my baby girl is growing! I bet she is feeling pretty squished in there, now! According to my pregnancy app, most babies that are born between 34 and 37 weeks are generally just fine, and usually don't need much time in the NICU and they are usually just as healthy as babies born full term. I told Heavenly Father today that she can come any time, and that I would approve. :) We will see what He thinks, I guess haha. However, having her born around her due date will be the best timing for work, so I guess I can wait.

Oh and PS. Ever since I was a little girl, I have had weird skin on my arms that is red and dotted and splotchy. Normally it doesn't bother me, but my original photo of the picture above made it really obvious and made me feel self conscious. So don't look too closely at the picture because I did a really bad job of trying to edit the skin on my arm, and now I don't know how to get back to the original photo. Oh well. Haha. 

Baby Showers

Oh my heck I feel so loved! I got to have 2 baby showers over our Christmas break.

The first baby shower was given to me by Alesha and Camie and all their girls. It was so cute and fun. I wish I had pictures from that night! (If you took pictures from that night, you should send them to me:) That night, we played games and had some delicious cute little finger foods, because we need to "treasure the little things in life." I felt so loved!

My sisters and mom also put together a baby shower with my friends that were in town. There weren't a ton of my friends around, but we had a ton of fun getting together and visiting over lunch. We went to Smokey Mountain Pizza and Pasta, and ate a delicious meal. In addition to my mom and sisters and friends, my aunt Kathy, my grandma and Hailey and Kylee also came to celebrate my baby with me!

Baby E got the most adorable clothes, toys, and bedroom accessories. Holy cow this girl is so loved and so spoiled! Here is a shot of part of her room so far. :)

Also, my mom sent this cute little "stroller blanket" to me in the mail the other day. I love it so much that I cuddle with it on a regular basis.... even though baby girl isn't here yet. Hopefully she won't mind!

Bryce's Life

Bryce is working SOO hard, and this semester is going to be a killer for him. The plan was to make his last semester really light so that he can watch our baby while I go back to work. But if that is the plan, then that means he has to cram a lot into this semester (even though this is the semester that our baby girl will be joining our family!)

He is going to be such a great dad. He is already sacrificing so much for our family. But we all cannot wait until July when school is finally finished! Everything is totally worth it. Then we are Boise bound. We are excited about the next chapter of life that includes a full time job at HP for Bryce and a stay-at-home mom for me. We are also excited to be able to rent Kim and Matt's old home, too. :)

2 Months 2 Go

Welp, I have two months left of pregnancy! Thank goodness because 10 months is really too long. (Let's be honest, pregnancy is 10 months. 40 weeks = 10 months.) Anyway, really 10 months is too long just because I want to have this baby girl in my arms. I want to see her sweet face and feel her tiny fingers wrapped around mine. I want to take her home and cry tears of joy for my beautiful family of three. Ugh. I can't wait to be a mom.

I have been so lucky as far as my pregnancy has gone so far. Granted, over the summer, there were times when I felt pretty miserable. But ever since school started at the end of August, it has been pretty smooth sailing. Other than the extreme ligament pain I feel on a daily/nightly basis, life is pretty great. :) Thank goodness for Tylenol. I read on the internet that I should have relief from this "round ligament" thing as soon I have the baby.

I still get the chance to coach soccer every once in a while. I am not an official coach, but I get calls every once in a while from the club coaches when they want my help running practice or bringing in some new ideas or killing the kids at some conditioning drills. I feel kinda funny coaching soccer at 7 months pregnant when I am as big as I am, but it is empowering to me when I do go coach. Other than my slight balance issues, this mamma has still got some skills!

Here is a photo I snapped from my perspective before practice started on Saturday morning. Baby E loves soccer, too. :)

53 days until due date!

One Month Later

Sorry about the month long hiatus from blogging. I wish I had a good excuse but I don't. Other than, in my mind, I am SUPER busy. Work has just kept me super busy, especially since I REALLY want my maternity leave to run smoothly... it is just taking a LOT of my extra time. And when I am not working on school stuff, I am cooking or cleaning or getting stuff ready for Baby E. And when I am not doing all those things... I am watching Netflix... AKA I am sleeping (because sleeping and watching TV are the same thing to me.)

Anyway. I am not going to promise that I will get better about blogging... I really wish I had more time or that I could make more time, because I love blogging. But, alas, life is busy!

Introducing the Mistletoes!

Okay. Sometimes when you are working with kids, you experience delightfully hilarious moments that you just wish, more than anything, that you had your video camera out. Here was one experience yesterday. It won't be as funny to any of you, because you weren't there, but I want to remember it. :)

*Names have been changed for student privacy.*

Jake: Hey Mrs. Call. So me and Cole and Rachel and Jessica just barely formed a new singing group. We are called the Mistletoes. We are hoping, with your permission, that we can sing to the class at the end of the day. So can we?

Me: (with a little bit of snickering in my response)..... Uhm, sure... what will you be singing?

Jake: We will start out with "Over the River and Through the Woods." And since it is Dan's birthday, we will then have a special arrangement of "Happy Birthday," followed by a Louis Armstrong style solo done by Cole.

*He was completely serious.*

Me: Haha. Okay. I can't wait. How long have you been practicing together?

Jake: Well we haven't, yet. But we will practice at recess.

Me: Awesome. This will be so great.

I waited in anticipation for the rest of the day to see what they came up with. When the time came (the last 5 minutes of class) for them to sing, they had it all set up. They had 2 girls in the class be the MC's, and they were so hilarious. They used whiteboard markers as microphones, and they were complete naturals. They even provided entertainment for when the Mistletoes needed a few seconds to regroup with each other.

As for the Mistletoes, they were incredible. They even got a standing ovation from the class when they finished. The Louis Armstrong style "Happy Birthday" solo was a showstopper.

The whole experience was priceless. Why the heck did I not get out my cell phone and video it????

Third Trimester!

Maybe I am just not very smart, but I keep trying to Google when the 3rd trimester of pregnancy starts.... and I can't seem to figure it out because pretty much every where says something different.

But doesn't it make sense to say that when you have 3 months until the end of your pregnancy, that you are in your third trimester? Well today is December 8th, and since baby girl is due on March 8th, I am officially saying I am in my 3rd trimester :)

Here is an update on pregnancy stuff. Baby E is getting big and I can feel it. Apparently by now, she is 15 inches long and weighs 2 pounds. She loves to do somersaults and sit on my bladder, and she gets hiccups about 10 times a day.  She also likes to play with daddy. Bryce will poke my stomach, and she will kick back. It's so fun. :) 

As far as mom-to-be goes, everything has been great! Other than... my hormones. Everything makes me cry. Happy things. Sad things. Everything. Seeing all of Baby E's cute things she already has. Bryce doing the dishes. Watching the Santa Clause 2. You name it. I will cry. But other than that, life is grand! 

I can't wait for these next 3 months to speed by! This little girl already has our hearts.