Musings on life, parenting, Jesus, and more...

Well, tomorrow is Labor Day....the perfect day to go into "labor" if you ask me :) although I don't really feel like anything is happening yet so I'm not getting my hopes up. We're heading up to Tacoma today to visit my sis and see their new house. Should be a nice distraction although I'm sure we'll be hitting most of the rest stops along the way! Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday weekend. Love, Shay, Rob & Baby

Just thought I'd give you an idea of what things look like these days for me. With only a week left until my due date, this tummy of mine is pretty big. My doctors appointments have all gone well and although there's still no indication of an early arrival, there has been progress that will hopefully lead to an easier labor and delivery when the time does come. Overall, I'm still feeling pretty good. Most nights, I sleep well and am trying to enjoy these last days/weeks of uninterrupted sleep. The weather has been great here, not too hot, and I've been able to spend time relaxing in our backyard, and of course getting last minute preparations ready around the house. My sister-in-law Amy came over on Wednesday and helped me give Kylo a bath, so even he is ready for this new little one's arrival.

Well, as you can see, my tummy is not the only thing that's getting bigger. My poor little hands and feet have started to get a little swollen as well. It's actually probably been like this for a while but I haven't noticed it as much since it's summer and I get to wear flip flops all the time. However, yesterday it was kinda rainy so I tried to squeeze into a pair of regular shoes and realized just how much bigger they were. I couldn't even wear regular socks, I had to wear nylon knee highs to help my feet slide in and fit better. And of course my wedding ring hasn't fit for months now, but even the fake ring that Rob got me (1 1/2 sizes bigger) is even getting a bit snug. This week we pre-registered at the hospital where we will be delivering, and I think we have our bags packed and ready to go...just in case she wants to come a little early :)

Thank you to everyone who generously "showered" baby and I with gifts last Sunday. We got so many cute outfits, some much needed essentials, lots of cozy blankets, and even a jogging stroller. We feel incredibly blessed to have such a great group of friends and family. I think we have everything we need for her arrival, and as of today, she is officially considered "full-term", so she can come anytime :) We are taking one last "child-free" getaway this weekend to the coast, and it looks like we picked a great weekend to go, with temperatures in the Portland area said to reach record highs in the 100's.

At the end of this week, our baby will be fully developed. At this stage of the pregnancy, she is gaining weight at a rate of about 1 ounce per day. She is probably also beginning to shed the downy covering of hair on her body along with the waxy substance called vernix caseosa that has protected her skin from the amniotic fluid. Our ultrasound yesterday confirmed that she is in the head down position, and although our glimpses of her were brief, I can already tell that she is quite adorable. I would post a picture, but the two they gave us didn't come out very good at all and I'm sure by the time I scanned them they would be even harder to distinguish. So, you'll just have to wait until she's born to see for yourself. Shouldn't be long now!

It appears that little Bachelderette already likes to play games...much like her mom and dad, although I don't think she'll be up to Settlers for at least a year or two. ha ha. Her game this week is hide and go seek, as the midwife today at my 36 week check-up was unable to determine what position she is in. We could hear her heartbeat but only through the umbilical cord and although she was "pretty sure" the baby is head down, she scheduled an ultrasound for us on Friday just to be sure. So we get a sneak peak at what this little bundle is going to look like when she arrives in just a few short weeks from now. Maybe we'll even get some new pictures to post....Stay tuned :)

Thanks Kelly for taking such great maternity pictures for us!