Kathryn Elizabeth!

So we finally nailed down a middle name and are now happily announcing our little girl's name to the world! Kathryn was my grandma's name (and yes, she did spell it that way) and we just kind of liked the flow of the middle name Elizabeth... very traditional, very Biblical... we like! It also happened to be Matt's grandmother's middle name- so there you go! Our little Kat is well on her way!

On Friday, we had a 3d ultrasound! Matt scheduled it for us as a surprise and I am so glad we did it! It was amazing! She was moving, yawning and even gave us a smile at one point! Matt thinks she looks like me in my baby pictures... I can see some resemblance, and there is definitely some Matt in there, too! It is so neat... at 29 weeks, she really looks like a baby now!

On Saturday, the students from my youth group threw us a surprise shower! It was so neat! I was shocked! Matt was in on it and had me convinced we were going to a BBQ at a co-worker's place. Then, one of the youth group moms, Velda Pagel, called and said they had some baby stuff we should stop by and look at. She just happened to be in the same area as the BBQ, so we decided to stop by and look. When all the kids jumped out and yelled "SURPRISE!" I was in complete shock! I had no clue! We played some games, ate some food and opened gifts- I can't believe how generous everyone was- Kat is going to be so spoiled :) It was such a blessing!

I had my doctor's appointment today (we're down to every three weeks right now- soon it will be every two weeks) and was told everything looks great. The only thing that raised Dr. Grouse's eyebrow was how quickly Kat is growing... the past three appointments I have been measuring ahead and this time was no exception. We could have a big baby girl on our hands! She said if it continues this way, we'll do an ultrasound in about 5-6 weeks to see if we will need to induce early/ plan a c-section. When she found out Matt was a 10lb. baby, she said "A-ha!" and agreed that we needed to keep an eye on her growth. Other than that, she is already head down and has a perfect pulse! So we shall see... will we have a monster baby? Time will tell...

We have a baby!

Ok, well, Matt and I don't yet, but Matt's sister, Amy, had her second beautiful daughter on Saturday! It was pretty incredible. I was at the hospital with her most of the day... she was being induced, so we weren't sure what time to expect Sydney's arrival. At 6:15pm, after hardly any pushing, Sydney was born! Mike was able to be on the phone from Iraq when she was born- amazing! Amy's mom and I were allowed back in to start taking pictures... I couldn't believe how incredible she was! She seemed so small (6 lbs. 5 oz. I think) and fragile, but definitely has a strong set of lungs on her! We all got to hold her and swoon over her for a while... it was too cool.

Unfortunately, I got very little sleep on Saturday night. I kept replaying the events of the day through my head and panicking a bit. The reality has finally struck me- that in 3 months, this baby is coming out of me and I am going to be responsible for her care and wellness... AHHH! I realized how scared I really am and how incapable I feel. What do I know about caring for a newborn? What do I know about being a parent?! NOTHING! I know it will be a learning process and things will be ok... but it is becoming so real.

We have 3 more months to go... 90 days from today is our due date. I'm officially in my third trimester. Holy smokes. This is going fast! We have her furniture all set up in her room, just waiting for her arrival. So crazy. Every time I walk by that room and see a crib, I have to catch my breath a bit. It is surreal.

My basketball sized belly is pretty cute and I am feeling pretty good overall. I've got to get out and run some errands, so that is it for now.

Only 3 More Months Left!

Holy smokes! I cannot believe that 6 months of this pregnancy is already over! We only have 3 months left until our little girl is here! Things are starting to get finished... the crib and dresser arrived today and are sitting in our garage just calling to me to come open them! Unfortunately, they are shrink wrapped and set on a palette, so it would be unwise for me to try to tackle it myself! Eeek! We already have her bookshelf all set up... it is coming together in there!

This morning I took my Gestational Diabetes 1-hour test. I drank my orange drink at 8:05am and drove up to Irvine to get my blood drawn- you have to have it drawn within an hour. The lab was packed! There was a 45 minute wait and I only had 10 minutes left before my hour would be up (the doctor told me to get there 15 minutes early). I told the guy behind the counter that I only had 10 minutes, so they took me in before everyone else... I could tell some people were upset that they had been waiting way longer than me, but it had to be done... otherwise I would have had to do this all over again- yuck!

We've picked out our daughter's name, but not a middle name yet. We're waiting for a while to tell... maybe we'll wait until she is born to tell... not sure yet. I want to at least wait until we know what her middle name will be.

She moves a ton now... we looked down the other night and my belly was pointy on the left side! It looked like she was poking her head up just to the left of my belly button... very strange, but very fun! I love feeling her move- it is an amazing feeling!

Well... that is it for now. 3 more months of fun pregnant lady stuff to come!

Swallowed a Soccer Ball

"Your Pregnancy Week by Week" says that this week my uterus is the size of a soccer ball. That sounds about right... my belly is pleasantly rounder these days. Last night when we went to The Simpsons movie, one side of my belly was really hard, like she was leaning up against the right side. So weird! It is cool that now we can start kind of knowing where she is and how she is positioned.

Things are going great so far... I can't believe it is already August! Only 3 more months until she is here! We ordered our furniture this past week and hopefully it will arrive in plenty of time! I am such a worry wart, though, and I keep having visions of giving birth without having anything ready for her when we bring her home! I know I am just having crazy pregnant woman fears, but nonetheless, it is still in the back of my mind.

I've been so lucky with this pregnancy and have felt pretty good the whole time. The only complaint I have is being tired pretty much all the time. Now that it is so hot outside, I definitely get tired faster. The heat is yucky, but at least by the time I am hugely pregnant, the worst of the heat will be over and we'll be heading into the cooler fall season.

Next month all the preparation begins- childbirth classes, showers, etc. It is so unreal that all those things are already coming up! These past few months have been speeding by and it feels like just yesterday I was standing in front of the bathroom mirror in complete shock at the little plus-sign on the pregnancy test.

Well, there isn't much new stuff to report, so I will leave it at that... things are going well and I am excited to see all the changes that are to come in the next weeks!!