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!