Before I forget (again)

Here is the baby quilt I made for our new little guy.

Turned out pretty darn good. (I'm not really bragging, it is more surprise than boasting) :)

Here comes the son...

Just about 4 weeks left till our baby boy arrives. I have reached the end of pregnancy woes. I start to get impatient to hold my baby, my ankles and feet swell and hurt, and I don't get more than a few hours of sleep at a time at night (Preparation for when baby gets up every couple hours when he makes his arrival I suppose) 

I can still find joy in feeling my little one moving and watching my belly jump and roll. There are many humorous situations that come with the largeness of the pregnant belly and lack of stomach muscles. It is fun to lay with my stomach to Lars' back and have the baby keep Lars awake too by constantly kicking his daddy. ;) So what if I can't fit into any of my shoes right? :)

I am grateful and feel so blessed for the lack of complications I enjoy during pregnancy. Sure I feel tired a lot and sick at the beginning but I haven't had to deal with any major problems. I'm not one of those poor ladies that ends up hospitalized because they can't keep anything down. I don't have high blood pressure, I haven't ever had gestational diabetes, and thus far my labors and deliveries have gone smoothly and with relatively little pain. 

So it could be 2 weeks or so till baby comes if he follows his siblings patterns. 2 WEEKS! Wow! That is so close and yet there are moments when it feels oh so far away. How can a week look like a month on the calendar and then fly by in reality? (Pregnancy, thats how.) 

Lilli is anxiously awaiting her baby brother. She wants him to come on her birthday which is his first technical "full term" date. (I will be 37 weeks at that point) She talks to him through my belly button (naturally) and tells him to come on May 7th. It is cute but I think in the end she'll be happier if they are at least a couple days apart. 

So don't expect tons of posts from me until the baby is born. Sitting at the computer for too long makes my fat feet even fatter. ;) (Plus I have pregnancy induced carpal tunnel in both hands and my fingers go numb if I type too much.)

Also I am so stinking busy taking naps when I can in between trying to scrub the house. (Only slightly kidding...about the scrubbing anyhow. LOL)

I will for sure post pics of the new baby once comes! Until then Happy Spring everyone!

APRIL

So happy it is April. Not only is a great month in general but this means I am due to have the baby NEXT month! So great to be able to say that! 

It is also a birthday month at our house. Today is Lars birthday. I took him to dinner on Friday, made him a great breakfast this morning, and the dessert he asks for every year for tonight. (It is a meringue crust with chocolate pudding inside. It really is good.)

My birthday is in 3 days and Henry turns 10 in a couple weeks. Like I said it is a great month, so many special days. :)

As implied above we are getting close to our newest little one's arrival. I'm very excited as well as stressed. I feel like I need to deep clean my whole house but he will come no matter what state my home is in and life will go on and we will be just fine. Mostly I am just excited and can't wait for the next few weeks to pass so he will be full term and ready to arrive when he is ready. (Plus I'm not sure I can get much bigger, seriously, when you are short there just isn't much room for things to grow.) But I am waddling along and trying to just enjoy every kick and wiggle while he is still growing inside. He is in all likelihood the last for us (not gonna commit to saying he is because we thought Lilli would be too.) so I try to remember that this could be the last time I experience any of this, which is a little sad for me. But I am also a very impatient person so I also can't wait for him to be in my arms. 

I know a lot of this is a repeat of things I've said in my most recent posts but it is what's on my mind of course. Time will of course pass and I'll just try to enjoy every moment. 

Happenings

Here's whats been happening in our lives lately. :)

I had an appointment with my midwife on Monday. The baby is still head down which is such a relief for me. Lilli was stubborn when she was on the inside (Ok she still can be a little) ;) Anyhow, she did not want to turn head down. They finally had to turn her manually at 37 weeks. Apparently having her head in my ribs was just so dang comfy...for her. Anyhow, that is an experience I do not want to repeat! I have given birth without drugs 3 times and nothing compares to having them turn Lilli. Obviously I made it through just fine and if I had to I would have this one turned as well, it is much preferable to a C-section.
At any rate, so far this little one likes to be head down and we will just hope and pray he stays that way until he makes his arrival. (Which is coming up so fast, just about 9 weeks to go!!) Everything else looks great with the baby and I so we'll just keep on growing for another little while.

The next bit of news is so exciting and an answer to my prayers, literally. We found our missing hard drive!! All my pictures from the last 10 years or so are not lost as we had feared! So happy, seriously words cannot describe.

Last weekend, my dear wonderful friend Melissa was in town with her girls. It was so wonderful to spend time with her and the kids all had a great time playing together. I don't actually have any photos of the time they spent here but the memories are stored and that is what counts. :) Living in a state I didn't grow up in at all has one major disadvantage, I don't get to see my friends from teenage years. When people I know talk about how they got together with all their high school friends I do feel a little jealous, or sad or something. I think it makes it so my kids forget that I was young because they don't often get to see me with people from my past. To them life for me started when I became a mom because that is all they see evidence of. Anyhow, it is always so wonderful to me to reconnect with my past and most especially with Melissa. It was a short visit but still very nice. Hopefully we can see each other again soon.

I have also made a little more progress with my quilt. I basted it together so now all that needs to be done  is the quilting of the layers and the binding. I will post pictures as soon as it is finished.

On a side note, if anyone is interested in a rabbit we have one we need to get rid of. He is attacking our other male rabbit trying to fight over our female and so he is having to stay caged which I hate. So if you are interested.... :)

I guess that's about it right now. I'm sure I'll think of something interesting to write soon, but wether or not I actually get on and write it is a whole other thing. We shall see.

March...time marches on

Time does keep marching on, sometimes faster than it seems I can keep up with. Everyday I'm sure I'm doing to get a million things done and often I only get a few or other things come up that take priority. And yet time keeps on going. March has been like this for me. I really thought this month would drag but here we are half way through it and I am down to close to 10 weeks till my due date. With how quickly time is going he'll be here before we know it. (And we can't wait, love this little guy so much already!)

This week just turned out crazy. Sunday night at dinner Grandpa  suddenly got up and said he was feeling cold and went into his room where he has a small space heater to keep his room extra toasty. I went to check on him a bit later and he had a fever and chills. He usually only gets this when he has pneumonia, but that usually starts out with a simple cold or cough and then he gets the fever later. This time however he hadn't been sick at all leading up to this so we took a wait and see approach thinking it must be some other bug. Monday he thought he felt a little better but was still battling a fever and weakness. Tuesday morning he was convinced he was on the mend but by the afternoon he was feeling just awful. Shortly before dinner I talked to him about going to the hospital and he readily agreed. I had a meeting at church so Lars decided to take him so I could still go to my meeting. So the kids and I headed off to church and Lars and Gramps headed to over to the VA hospital. They confirmed pneumonia and decided to keep him at least overnight.
Then my dishwasher decided not to work. Perfect and such good timing. So add to the mix pregnant hormones and you had me, one overwhelmed woman. But again time keeps on moving and here we are Thursday evening. Grandpa is back home and feeling much better thanks to the modern miracle of antibiotics, Lars has fixed the dishwasher for half the price the repairman wanted, and I am feeling much happier. (It is amazing how much a broken dishwasher can reek havoc when you are so used to having one!)

So for the moment life is a bit more calm. March will keep on marching and blossom into April and before you know it we will have celebrated three April birthdays, one May birthday and the baby will be here. I'm sure I'll face another "crisis" or two before then, and I am starting to get the nesting bug. (Meaning that I realize the baby is coming soon and it will be a long time before I can really clean my house once he comes so I NEED to do it now.) The kids may not be too happy with me over the next 7-10 weeks. Chores, chores, and more chores! (I should have an evil laugh after that but I've never been very good at evil laughs. Oh well.)

On a very happy note, one of my dearest friends is coming into town this weekend with some of her kids. It will be a fun weekend full of chatting and playing! It doesn't get much better than that.

That's about it for the moment at the Andersen home. Monday is full of appointments. Henry has a dr appt, I have an appt with my midwife, and we have an appt to get our taxes done. (That will be such a relief) I might have something more to update then.

Love is...

...probably not what you think. But to me, at this moment, this is love, true bliss.

That's right! My Thin Mints came! You couldn't find a happier pregnant girl anywhere at this second. :)

Each bite is worth every cent (Or dollar if you want to keep it real.) 

They are just what I need to cheer me up on a day like this.

March...why do you have to keep this up? Let it be spring, PLEASE!

At least I can enjoy a few (ahem, sleeves) thin mints with hot chocolate tonight since it is snowy. I'll get to enjoy my frozen thin mints a little later. ;)

Where did this thing come from

Seriously just popped out! ;)

27 weeks. I swear this shirt was much looser 2 weeks ago! :)

I think my belly has grown upwards all it can, it will be straight out from here. Soon I will be as many inches out as I am tall. ;) But come on, who doesn't love a big belly?