baby shower & the nesting begins

I feel like we've been so busy lately, with Spring Break, a baby shower, yard work, and... oh yeah. The nesting has begun. I'm 28 weeks today and officially starting my third trimester, and while I'm starting to get a wee bit uncomfortable, it's mostly manifested itself in the mindset that "there's work to do!" Not that I'm cleaning any more than usual (yet) but the fun stuff like shopping and organizing and planning! ;-) It was all kick-started, I believe, by the baby shower that our church gave us last Sunday. It was intimate and sweet, but not having been here that long, we felt so blessed to be showered by our dear church family. I'm afraid we didn't get many pictures, as our camera started flashing low battery half way through, but here's just a few from the event.

Opening gifts with Jessica, the other Mommy being showered.

The kids were mostly interested in the cake - Moira asked for 3rds!!

(Did I mention she's going through a growth-spurt right now?)

But Moira took some time away from playing with the other kids long enough to help us open some of the gifts.

Our family of 5 (with baby inside) when it was all said and done.

Oh, and the thank you notes I made this week for the shower. They're all finished and mailed, as of Thursday... so keep your eyes open for them if you were present! :)

I also had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday, and I'll be going every two weeks now. Things still look good - baby is still growing. Remember at my last appointment when I measured 31 cm (which equals 31 weeks)? Well, true to form, I measured 35 cm this time! I sure hope this little 'loaf' slows down a bit at the end. At least my OB didn't mention scheduling a C-section or induction this time - she just wants to "keep an eye on it" and we might possibly get another ultrasound out of it, closer to the due date. She also mentioned that I might take this year's prize for biggest baby - ugh. As long as she's healthy... right?

So, back to the topic of nesting. We ordered a white, 6-drawer dresser/vanity for the girls' room, for the extra clothes storage space and to double as a changing table, and it came in today! Fun, fun, fun! I'm hoping to convince Collin to help me put it together this weekend, and that way I can start washing baby clothes, taking inventory and putting them all away. (It makes me giddy just thinking about it!) I've also been working on lots of baby blankets lately. One of Collin's mom's friends sent us a box of 3 pounds (yes, pounds!) of yarn, and I've slowly widdled it away to almost nothing. Here are the results:

This one, called Sweet Pea, is for our little girl. The purple is actually more purple in real-life, but it was hard to get our camera to pick up the right shade in the pics.


The big kids testing it out - they had to make sure it was right for their little Sis.


This one I made for Jessica, the other Mommy being showered on Sunday.

This one is for a friend in Colorado, Laura, that just had a baby girl.

I've also got the sweetest little jumper on needles right now, that will be perfect for the "loaf" come Fall. I'll post pics of that one once it's finished. And, we haven't been neglecting the big kids with all the baby stuff going on. We were lucky enough to be given a free twin bed and mattress set for Ian from one of the couples at our church, so all we had to buy was the bedding. Ian's starting to think he might want to switch room themes to dinosaurs soon, so I decided it would be best to get some generic (non-Mickey) bedding that would last through many themes - and I'm glad we did! It's so cute, and really perfect for him, especially with the splashes of orange (his favorite color).

Here's the new big-boy bed...

...and here's our big-boy enjoying it!

(I just want to eat him up, he's so cute!)

And finally the big news, as far as our two older kids are concerned... they're getting a big, wood swing set for their birthdays! We actually bought it yesterday, because it was on sale for $200 off the ticket price (yea!), even though their birthdays aren't until May and July. We won't be putting it together until June though, when Papa (my dad) arrives with Grammie for the baby's birth, since he has so graciously agreed to help Collin with the construction. They're excited though, and I hope they can wait 2 1/2 months until it's ready to go. Here's a sneak peak of the catalog picture (random kids and all), just in case you can't wait to see it either...

Fun, huh? I think we're almost as excited as the kids are! It really is perfect timing too, since they'll have something fun to do and help get their energy out when the newborn is here and napping all the time.

So that's what we're up to right now, thanks for checking in despite my irregularity in posting. Hopefully, you haven't all written me off as a lost cause in blogging. Have a wonderful weekend!