Day 31 ~ August 31, 2010

Tonight's picture is of my pastor, Clayton Hentzel. He is the pastor at The Crossing in Macomb where I attend church on Sundays. I also attend a college-aged ministry on Tuesday nights called Fuel, so this is him at tonight's sermon.

He talked about repentance tonight. It was a really moving message that made me think about my life as a Christian and what I can do to better follow God. I am thankful for the wonderful friends I have that share in my belief in God. I am thankful for a wonderful church family that supports me and is there for me when I need them. I really, truly love attending church at The Crossing in Macomb and I look forward to going every Sunday and Tuesday.

Day 30 ~ August 30, 2010

I'm so excited that the baby bed is all ready to go! I received the bedding from my parents at my shower yesterday and I opened it and washed everything last night. I put it all on the bed last night and today and I'm so happy with the way it looks.

Turtles are my favorite animal and when I saw this bedding I thought it was absolutely adorable! It's called Turtle Reef by Cocalo. I originally found it on Target's website, but it was out of stock. Luckily, my mom searched the internet and found it on another website for even cheaper than it was listed on Target's site. She ordered it and it was here within 2 days!!

I wanted to get the crib set up and ready to go because I'm watching my friend Jessica's little boy Kolby tomorrow while she's at school. I know he'll need somewhere to take a nap, so while I'm a little sad that another baby will use the crib before mine will, I'm really excited to have a baby in it!

We're getting closer every day and the nursery is coming along nicely. I definitely have some organizing to do and I need to go through all of the gift bags from my showers, but it's coming together really well. Just a few more weeks until my precious little guy is here!

Day 29 ~ August 29, 2010

Today was my 3rd and final baby shower. It was hosted by my grandma, great aunt and two of my aunts and it was held at my Great Aunt Mary's house in Blandinsville. We had such a great time and Baby Lotz got lots of wonderful gifts from all of our family. In this picture is my lovely mom, Anne (black outfit on the left) and me, the excited mother-to-be.

We started the party with a couple games. The first was a questionnaire about famous nursery rhymes. My Great Aunt Joan won that one by getting the most correct answers. The second game was a word scramble with baby-related words. I, along with my mom and my Great Aunt Martha, was able to unscramble every single one of the words! It made us think, but it was still a fun game to play.

Then we moved on to me opening gifts. The baby received lots of cute outfits, books, diapers, our bedding set, a crib mattress, and many other great items. I am so thankful to have such a loving family who cares for us and supports us.

We finished off the shower by enjoying some yummy jello cake, mints, and mixed nuts. I was so glad to spend the day with my family. I had an awesome time, and I thank my grandma and aunts for throwing us such a great party!

After returning home from the shower, I washed the baby bedding and started putting the crib together. I'm so excited that the nursery is finally starting to look like a nursery! Granted, there are still gift bags EVERYWHERE that I need to sort through, but at least my little guy has a comfy place to sleep and a dresser for his clothes. Not to mention a huge family that loves him already!

Day 28 ~ August 28, 2010

Girls night in! Tonight I spent the evening with some wonderful girlfriends of mine. At 6:00 my friends Courtney and Brittney met me at my house and we went to Blandinsville's Farmer's Picnic for porkchop sandwiches and to check out what was going on at the park. It was pretty dead (the porkchop sandwich was amazing though!) so we didn't stay too long. It was so nice to hang out with those girls though.

After returning from Blandinsville, Brittney and I went to our friend Crystal's apartment to watch a movie. We were joined by two other friends, Emily & Mary. Crystal made brownies (which I enjoyed with a small serving of mint chocolate chip ice cream) and we watched "The Last Song". It really was a fun evening with friends just relaxing and enjoying some girl time. We all need that every once in a while!

In this picture (left to right): Me, Crystal, Emily, Brittney, and Mary

Day 27 ~ August 27, 2010

Today's picture is another random one. Here is my pet turtle, Buddy. My sister brought me Buddy when I was in the 4th grade (about 10 years ago). A friend of hers found him and offered him to me as a pet. When I got him his shell was about 2 inches long from his head to his tail. Now, he's about 6 inches from head to tail. He's grown quite a bit, but is still pretty small for a turtle. Turtles don't outgrow their environment, so he won't get any bigger than he is now.

Buddy is a painted turtle. His underside is bright orange with a yellow design in it. He hangs out in his 10 gallon aquarium complete with water, a floating dock, several rocks, a lamp, a heater, and his filter.

My day today was pretty busy. I had some Mary Kay orders to deliver and I also had my 34-week appointment with my ObGyn. We discussed some questions I had and he said that he would agree to induce me anytime in my 39th week so that the baby will come when Daddy is home on leave. He also told me that many women would be jealous of the fact that I have no stretch marks and I still have ankles. :P

Tonight I had a *BIG* Mary Kay party. I did one for a friend of mine who is now an RA in her Residence Hall and there were about 15 girls present. Luckily, I had the assistance of my director and a fellow consultant otherwise I may have been in over my head.

Day 26 ~ August 26, 2010

Today's picture isn't very exciting, but it's of the rawhide bones I bought for my dogs today. They absolutely LOVE rawhides. I like to give them something like this to chew on every so often to help keep their teeth clean. Rawhides are also a wonderful babysitter. All I have to do is give them each a rawhide bone, make sure they have water and keep them in my sight. Then I'm free to do whatever I need/want to do without dogs right at my feet and without worrying what they're getting in to. These were two separate rawhides that they chewed one end off of. They started out as 9" and are now about 4".

Today was also the first night of my actual childbirth classes. They break it up into 4 weeks and each week they discuss a different stage of labor (L.A.T.E=Latent, Active, Transition, Expulsion). Tonight we discussed the first stage of labor, the Latent stage. It was really informative and the nurse (the instructor) made it very easy to understand by using simple visuals like lifesavers and marshmallows. I'm looking forward to next week's class already!

Day 25 ~ August 25, 2010

We're getting closer! I'm 34 weeks pregnant today, which means just 6 weeks until my due date and only 3 short weeks until I'm considered full term! Ahh, there's still so much to do! Luckily, we put the crib together tonight!

It went together really quickly and really easily. My mom and I were able to get it set up in about 40 minutes! The instructions were very clear and I'm happy with the way it looks. With the exception of a minor dent (chip, whatever you want to call it) in the headboard (probably due to shipping) it looks great and I love that it matches the dresser/changing table. It also came with a rail to use for a toddler bed, and I purchased the rails to eventually convert it into a day bed and full size bed. Hopefully our son doesn't destroy it (wishful thinking, right?) and he'll be able to use it for years to come!

Day 24 ~ August 24, 2010

Today's photo is a 2-in-1. First, I got my hair cut this afternoon. My sister cut over 3 inches off (I didn't even know I had 3 inches to cut off!) and I love it. It's so lightweight and I'm hoping it is easy to style. We'll find out when I have to style it myself, I guess!

Second, is the dresser that I'm standing next to. My mother-in-law (with the help of my father-in-law) put this together for me this afternoon and I'm so excited! I've been wanting to go through stuff from my baby showers and now that I have a place to put things I can start going through and washing all of the baby's clothes! I'm very anxious to put everything in it's place. Hopefully my mom and I can work on the baby's crib tomorrow night.

Tonight was also the first night of Fuel, a college-age ministry at my church. It's every Tuesday night at 8:30 and I love going. It's a great place for me to get fired up about my faith and learn more about my Savior!

Day 23 ~ August 23, 2010

Today, my parents' friend Julie came to stain our deck. It usually gets done every 2-3 years and it definitely needed it this time around. As you can see, it's pretty faded in the "before" section. It almost looks like a whole new deck in the "after" part. Great job, Julie!

This morning I took the dogs to the groomer to get their nails trimmed. They were getting extremely long and they kept scratching us. It was ridiculous! They're too big for me to hold them down (especially being 8 mos. pregnant!) so I took them to a place in Macomb called Paws 'n Claws. They didn't like it too much, but it had to be done.

Tonight our unit had our Mary Kay Back to School Spa night at The Old Bailey House. We had 11 guests that enjoyed our 4 pampering stations and everyone got a free massage from licensed massage therapists. We (the consultants) also got to enjoy a free massage so that was wonderful! I really needed it, especially since my husband is gone and I have no one to rub my back and feet. I took the therapist's card and I will hopefully be going to get a longer massage here very soon...I just have to talk Zach into paying for it!

Day 22 ~ August 22, 2010

Today I went to my former roommate Laura's soccer game. She plays for the Western Illinois University Leathernecks. We were roommates during our freshman year before I got married and moved away.

Here she is at their first game of the season versus Northern Illinois University. The game ended in a tie (1-1) but it was still very exciting. It was also a very hot one! With temps in the upper 90s-100s I can't imagine how those ladies were feeling running up and down the field. Overall the Leathernecks played very well and should be proud of their teamwork for this first game. I know they will have a successful season, especially with my girl Laura on the team!

Day 21 ~ August 21, 2010

Today was my second baby shower. This one was at my Mother-in-Law's house with all of Zach's family. We had fun playing games, eating cake and ice cream, and opening gifts!

The first game we played we had to guess what kind of baby food was in 7 different jars. We could smell them and taste them (I didn't taste any of them) to try to figure it out. I only missed one (I put strawberry banana and it was just banana) out of seven! For the second game, we had to fill in the blanks on 15 nursery rhymes. It was fun to see what I actually remembered! The last game we played was super easy for me. I was given a list of attributes (eyes, ears, nose, legs, smile, etc) and I had to choose if I wanted the baby to get Mommy's or Daddy's. Then the guests chose and they were trying to guess what I would pick. So whoever had their answers the closest to mine, won. Zach's Grandma Lotz was funny because she somehow managed to guess opposite of me on every single one!

After games, we had cake and ice cream. The cake was really good (and that's saying something because I don't like cake)! Once everyone had finished their food, I started opening gifts. We received some wonderful gifts from everyone (blankets, lots of cute clothes, socks, bibs, a diaper genie, toys, etc)! While I was opening gifts we passed around a sheet and had everyone guess the baby's name (they were given a list of 5 to choose from), birthdate, weight, and height. It'll be interesting to see who is the closest.

Today is also my husband's 23rd birthday! I talked to him for a little bit on Skype this morning/afternoon. I'm sad that he can't really do anything to celebrate, but some of the guys at work brought him a piece of cake and sang him Happy Birthday. They also let him come into work late and he went out for pizza for lunch. Not exactly how every 23-year-old hopes to spend their birthday, but I told him we'd do something fun to celebrate when he comes home in about 6 weeks. Happy Birthday, sweetheart! We love and miss you very much!

Day 20 ~ August 20, 2010

This is my best friend, Allison. She hosted a Mary Kay party tonight and we had so much fun! Doesn't she look gorgeous?!

Ali has been my best friend since right before 8th grade (so like 7 years now!) and she even lived with me and my family for a couple of years in high school. She's a wonderful women who I admire very much. She had to do a lot of growing up at a very young age (at no fault of her own) and she has always accepted the responsibilities that she's been given without question. She's a strong woman who has a lot going for her.

We had a lot of fun at her Mary Kay party tonight. There were 5 girls besides the two of us and everyone looked beautiful! I hope we can do something similar very soon, but I know that everyone will be busy with school starting up again. Hopefully we can still find time to spend together.

Day 19 ~ August 19, 2010

Tonight I attended my second week of prenatal classes at the hospital where I will be delivering. Tonight's class was about breastfeeding. It was very informative and I enjoyed going to it. I have done a lot of reading on my own, but I still learned some things tonight. Since I plan on breastfeeding for as long as I can, I'm glad I attended this class to learn as much as I can about the process.

Pictured is the instructor for the class. Her name is Crystal and she's a nurse from the Obstetrics Department of the hospital. She's known me since I was really little so I didn't feel weird asking her if I could take a picture, haha. Hopefully Crystal will be working when it's time for me to have my little guy!

Day 18 ~ August 18, 2010

Here I am with my best friend, Courtney. We've been best friends since first grade and she was a bridesmaid in my wedding last summer. Her pool is behind us and it was featured earlier (Day 2, I think) in my 365 Day Blog.

She's leaving for school this weekend so we wanted to hang out one last time this afternoon. She has a little sister who is the same age as one of my nieces (7) so I took the girls out to her house to swim for a couple hours this evening.

I'm going to miss her when she leaves for school, but I'm sure she'll be back to visit (especially once the baby gets here). Good luck this year, Court! I'll miss you and I love you!

Day 17 ~ August 17, 2010

Isn't this little guy adorable?! His name is Kolby and he is my friend Jessica's son. He's 2 1/2 months old, and he's the happiest little baby ever! I watched him this afternoon for a bit while Jess went to work. I was the first person outside of the family to watch him, so she was nervous dropping him off. We got along great though; he didn't fuss at all.

I had a boring morning, but then a busy afternoon/evening. I took my brother to get some school supplies this afternoon and then stopped by the hospital to see my friend Christy and her newborn little girl, Graiclyn. Then I watched Kolby for an hour and a half and then went to a CPR class at the hospital. My mom and I earned a *free* CPR class for going to a child safety class last week and we are now officially certified in CPR!

Day 16 ~ August 16, 2010

Here is an updated picture of the "nursery". We've been working on cleaning things out to make room for baby stuff. You can actually see the floor and the far wall now! It's going to take a little while longer, but we made good progress tonight.

I had my 32 week appointment today as well. It went great! I've gained about 19 1/2 lbs so far (my goal is to only gain 25 lbs so we'll see...) and my blood pressure was excellent (a little low, but that's normal for me and it's better than being high). My belly measured 31 centimeters so it's a *little* small, but nothing to be concerned about. Baby's heartrate was in the 140s and he was moving all around! I'm so blessed to be having such a wonderful pregnancy thus far! The nurse practitioner said she wished they could give my pregnancy to all of their patients!

After my appointment, I met a good friend for lunch at Subway. She couldn't make it to my shower yesterday and had a gift for me so we met for lunch. It was very nice to see her and catch up. After lunch I went to a Mary Kay training session at my director's house and that was a lot of fun (and very educational)!

I'd like to congratulate my dear friend Christy and her husband, Kenny, on the birth of their first baby (a girl!), Graiclyn Marie Ray. She was born at 3:24 pm, weighed 6lbs 4oz and was 20 3/4 in long! Mommy and baby are both doing excellent and she's is absolutely adorable! I can't wait to go to the hospital tomorrow to see her! I'd also like to congratulate another friend, Mercedes and her boyfriend, Jason, on the birth of their first baby (also a girl!) Mylee Jo Chenoweth. She was born at 10:01 pm last night, weighed 6lbs 5oz and was 19 1/2 in long! Mylee and Mercedes are both doing well also, and I'm hoping to stop in and see them as well tomorrow!

Babies, babies, babies everywhere! I'm so happy for all of my friends who have had their little bundles of joy, but it makes me want my little guy soooo much! But, I would rather he stay put for a few (like 7) more weeks so he can grow strong and healthy in Mommy's belly. Ahh, my time will come! Until then, I'll cuddle up on everyone else's babies!

Day 15 ~ August 15, 2010

Today was my first of three baby showers. This is a picture of the entire group that was there today, and I couldn't have been more pleased with the turnout! Today's shower was with my friends and then I have two family showers the next two weekends.

We started the shower with some fun baby games. We were randomly partnered with another guest and the whole group was split into two teams. One partner put her hands behind her back while the other reached through and undressed a baby doll. Then the next pair of partners had to do the same thing, only they had to dress the baby. This continued through each pair of partners until the last pair went. The group that finished first received a prize.

The second game consisted of guests choosing an amount of toilet paper that they thought would reach around my belly. There were 3 ladies who chose the exact number of squares (10) and they each received a prize.

After games we moved on to cake and chocolate covered strawberries (graciously donated by the owner of a local restaurant). The cake was very adorable and had little blue booties on it along with the words "Welcome Baby Lotz" and pretty blue frosting flowers. After everyone finished eating I opened gifts.

It was such a wonderful day and I'm so thankful for my best friend Ali and my sister Mindy taking time out of their very busy schedules to plan such a fantastic shower. I really hope all of the guests enjoyed it as much as I did, and I am very blessed to have such wonderful friends!

Day 14 ~ August 14, 2010

Today was a pretty normal (uneventful) Saturday. I got up, fed the dogs, took them out (normal routine) and then my mom and I put together the stroller that I bought yesterday! It went together really easily (we only got frustrated once with the little pins to hold the wheels on) and pretty quickly, too (it only took us about 20 minutes). Then I showered and got ready for the day.

I talked to Zach on Skype for a few minutes after my shower and showed him the travel system. He liked it and said I did a good job! :) Then Mom and I went to town to grab lunch and get groceries (normal Saturday routine).

But anyway, about my picture. I love to do karaoke. I've been singing karaoke since I was about 9 years old and I love to go out and have a good time. Tonight I went to a bar in Blandinsville, IL called Slup's and sang a few songs. This is a picture of me with my mom's friend (and a friend of mine as well), Angela. She and my mom went to high school together and she invited me out tonight to sing. I sang a few songs and visited with Angela and some others and then headed home. I had a really nice time, and I hope we can do it again soon!

Day 13 ~ August 13, 2010

I got my travel system! I'm so excited! After months of researching and changing my mind about 3 times, I finally decided on this model. It's the Graco Quattro Tour Deluxe with the SnugRide Infant Carseat.

I was having trouble deciding between this and two others. Both of the others were similar, but they came with larger carseats (one with the SnugRide 32 and the other with the SnugRide 35). I decided to go with the regular SnugRide based on space in my backseat (I drive a tiny Toyota Corolla). I'd also read reviews that the larger ones didn't fit well in shopping carts and restaurant booths. Plus, who wants to carry around a carseat with a 35lb baby in it?!

I was excited when I got to the store because I found out there was a sale (with coupon) that gave $10 off every $50 you spend, so I ended up saving $50 total on this travel system. It might not sound like much, but when you're buying baby stuff, every dollar counts. I'm sure my husband will be glad when he hears that I saved some money!

While I was in Peoria, I met up with a friend from college, Crystal and her boyfriend Andrew. We went to dinner at Panera Bread Company and then they went with me to Babies R Us to help me decide on which one to get. I had a lot of fun hanging out with them and Andrew was a big help when it came to getting the big 'ol box in the car!

I also ordered my crib and dresser/changing table online today as well as the conversion kits to change the crib into a toddler bed and day bed/full bed. This was the first day that I've bought things for the baby (other than little stuff at yard sales) so I went all out! Haha, it was a great day overall, and buying the baby stuff makes it that much more real that he's going to be here very soon!

Day 12 ~ August 12, 2010

Today was a pretty busy day for me. I got up early to talk to Zach, but he was busy so we only talked for about 3 minutes. :( After that I showered and relaxed for a bit.

This afternoon I went to Fun City, a waterpark in Burlington, IA, with my in-laws and spent time in the lazy river and the swimming pool (I couldn't go down any slides so that was disappointing). It was a good time, but being out in the sun wiped me out.

So, onto my picture. Tonight was my first night of prenatal classes! My mom is going to the classes with me, since Zach is in Iraq and tonight we attended the child safety course. We were given several handouts and the nurse (from the OB dept) went over basic car seat safety. We also watched a short movie about first aid and emergency situations. By attending the class, we received a certificate to attend a CPR training course (a certified one) for free! We'll be taking that course next Tuesday night. The picture is of the handouts and our CPR certificates. There is also a Halo Swaddler which I won in a drawing!

My prenatal classes are every Thursday night until I deliver (basically). I'm looking forward to all that they have to offer. They're provided by the hospital where I will be delivering and they're free so I plan on taking them all (next week is breastfeeding). I'd rather be armed with knowledge I won't need rather than not know what to do in a given situation.

Day 11 ~ August 11, 2010

Today's picture shows a pretty common scene here in West Central Illinois during the summertime: mowing the lawn. Nearly every day (when it's not raining) you'll see someone out mowing their yard. Here is my mom, Anne, doing just that.

We've had a great deal of rain this summer and that has caused the grass to grow especially fast. My parents and my brother usually mow the yard about every 2-3 days just to keep up.

Mowing is something I've actually never done.When I was younger, I didn't weigh enough to keep the safety seat down (the lawn mower automatically shuts off when pressure is lifted from the seat) so I wasn't able to use the riding mower. I never wanted to do the push mowing, either. Now that I'm pregnant, I don't mow the yard for obvious reasons.

Anyhow, here is my beautiful mom working hard in the 90-something degree weather. You go girl!

Day 10 ~ August 10, 2010

Tonight I did a Mary Kay skin care class for my mom and some of her friends. I work part time as an Independent Beauty Consultant for Mary Kay and tonight's skin care class was a blast!

My mom invited a few of her friends to come over for a fun night of pampering. I offered free facials and the guests got to play around with colors and find the perfect look for them. We had snacks and a lot of good conversation. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did.

This is a picture of a *goody basket* that I put together. When a guest spent $50, she got to choose one item out of the basket for FREE! It was a great incentive to get the ladies to buy product and it went over really well. I have another skin care class tomorrow night, so I'm hoping for an equally fun and successful night!

Day 9 ~ August 9, 2010

Today's picture is pretty random. I didn't really have anything exciting happen today, so I didn't have a fun, memorable picture to take. Here is my baby girl, Cadence. I put a picture of our other dog, Kobe up on Day 1, so I thought it was time to show off my little girl.

Cadence is a black lab/pit bull mix and she's so sweet. We adopted her when she was 7 weeks old from the Huachuca City Animal Shelter on July 20, 2009. She was one of 10 in an all female litter. We brought her home and since then she has been an absolute blessing in our lives. She trained really quickly and really easily; she's a very smart dog. She and I took an obedience class in October where she quickly learned basic commands such as come, sit (which she actually already knew), down (which she knew as well), stay, heel, and speak. She was the youngest in her class and she did better than most of the other dogs (I feel like I'm bragging like a proud parent, but that's what I am).

Anyhow, here is my beautiful Cadence! Love you baby girl!

Day 8 ~ August 8, 2010

This is the baby's nursery--the before picture. Right now it's filled with dog kennels, boxes, Mary Kay inventory, etc. I thought it would be fun to post a "before" picture so I can track our progress and post an "after" picture soon. Now that we've got new carpet in my closet, we can start rearranging things throughout the house to empty out this room and make room for baby.

We have just under 2 months until my due date, and I'll most likely have him before then. I'm really anxious to get things going; I hope it doesn't take us too long! Anyway, check back in a couple months to hopefully see an "after" picture of what the final nursery will look like!

Day 7 ~ August 7, 2010

Today's picture is of two of my favorite girls in the whole wide world: my nieces. I invited them over tonight to watch movies, eat popcorn, and hang out with me (the coolest aunt ever). So here we all are sitting in my bed with our popcorn getting ready to watch "Where The Wild Things Are". Jevani (in pink, on the left) is almost 8 years old and Jeightlin (purple, on the right) is 6 years old. And then there's me (almost 8 months pregnant!) in the middle.

I love these girls so much! They are my sister's girls and I've been close to them ever since they were born. It was really hard on me to move away from them last year when I got married, but I'm happy to be back around them again. I love having girls nights with them just like tonight.

Day 6 ~ August 6, 2010

Today's picture is of my husband, Zach. It's not very good quality because it was taken with a webcam, but it's the best I could get. Zach is deployed to Baghdad, Iraq with the 40th ESB out of Fort Huachuca, AZ. They left on June 6, 2010, so he has been gone for 2 months today. That's 2 months down, 10 to go.

Zach works as an Information Systems Specialist and while he is deployed he is teaching classes at Baghdad Signal University. This is his second deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was there from December 2007-March 2009.

I love and miss my husband so very much! I can't wait until he's home again (he's coming home in a couple of months for the birth of our first baby). He'll be home for about 2 weeks and then he'll return to Iraq until June of 2011. It's hard being away from each other, but thanks to the advanced technology of today, we're able to communicate very regularly and that helps. I love you, Zach, and I'm very proud of you!

Day 5 ~ August 5, 2010

Today was a very special day for a close friend of mine, Nicole. Nicole and I went to school together since kindergarten, and she gave birth to her first baby girl, Brooklyn Elizabeth, this morning at 6:53 am. Brooklyn weighed 7lbs exactly and was 20 inches long. It was a very long and hard labor for Nicole, but her fiance' Brian was right by her side the whole time. They are both feeling very blessed by Brooklyn's arrival.

Congratulations Nicole and Brian on a beautiful, perfect baby girl! Happy birthday, Brooklyn!

Day 4 ~ August 4, 2010

I am 31 weeks pregnant today so I thought it was only appropriate to post a picture of my belly. I've been taking a picture every single week since I found out I was pregnant. It's been so much fun to look back and see how I've changed through this whole experience. It's neat to see when I started to show and when I had a "growth spurt". I look forward to sharing these pictures with my son when he's old enough to appreciate them.

So now we're in the *single* digits for weeks remaining in this pregnancy--just 9 weeks left! To me, it seems crazy that I will be a mommy in about 2 months! At times, this pregnancy has flown by, and at other times it has seemed to creep by. I'm definitely getting anxious to hold my baby in my arms and I can't wait to see what (and who) he looks like. However, I'm also trying to enjoy every bit of this time. I know once he is born I will miss feeling him kick and move around inside my belly (even when he lodges himself in my ribs) so I'm trying to take it all in. Overall, I have few complaints about my pregnancy. I've been healthy and so has my baby and that's all I can ask for.

Day 3 ~ August 3, 2010

Today, we picked out new carpet for my bedroom closet and my parents' bathroom. It wasn't extremely exciting, but I'm glad we're getting new carpet installed. The reason behind needing new carpet is that we used to have a cat who had a bladder problem and he would pee all over the floor in my closet and my parents' bathroom. Those of you who have cats know how awful cat urine smells. That smell never goes away. My mom just recently pulled up all the carpet and padding from my closet and she's working on removing it from their bathroom. Hopefully, they'll be able to come install the new carpet very soon.

Once the new carpet is installed, we can start moving stuff from the spare bedroom into my closet and start transforming the spare bedroom into the NURSERY! I'm very excited and anxious to get started on it because our little guy will be here in about 2 months! We've got a lot to do and getting this carpet today was the first step!

Day 2 ~ August 2, 2010

Today I spent the afternoon at my best friend Courtney's house. Her parents just had an in-ground pool installed in their backyard and it was finished yesterday. She invited a few of us girls out to check it out today. We had a great time floating around and catching up with each other. I look forward to many other days like today before she goes back to school in 3 weeks.

In this photo: (top left to right) Chelsea Hughes, Me, Allison Troy, Maleigha Huston, (bottom left to right) Tamra Rainone, Courtney Driskell

Day 1 ~ August 1, 2010

Today is the first day of my 365 day photo challenge. It also happens to be my baby boy Kobe's 1st birthday. Since it's his birthday, I thought it was only appropriate to make his picture my first post in this 365 day challenge. He's a beautiful, playful and loving golden retriever and he's made such an amazing addition to our family. We adopted Kobe from the Sierra Vista Animal Shelter on November 9, 2009 where he was residing with 4 siblings after they were found abandoned on the side of the road. At only around 3 months old, he was a very timid little guy but took quickly to myself, my husband, Zach, and his new sister, Cadence (our lab pup). Since then, our little guy has grown up to be a healthy 60 pound "lap" dog who loves having his belly rubbed. We love you, Kobe! Happy birthday big boy!