Hello Again!

I know that it's been a long time since my last post and I'm sorry. I have been furiously trying to get things ready at work so that I can make a clean getaway. The past few months have been really hectic, and when they're not, I'm sleeping, not posting. So here's what's been going on:

First of all, I had four awesome showers. I wish I had pictures, but my mom and sister took them, and I keep forgetting to ask for them. My first was a surprise shower thrown for me on Valentine's Day. This was a really special one because it was thrown by my class. They are so excited about the baby and I was speechless when I found out what they had done. I had several room moms come in to prepare for the Valentine's Party, and as always, they kicked me out (which they didn't have to ask me to do more than once). When I came back, the room was decorated for the shower and all of my kids had presents for me to open. I cried, of course. They are such sweet and thoughtful kids. My second shower was a small one thrown for me by a group of girlfriends. We got together for dinner at a friend's house and it was really nice. My third was my "personal" shower, thrown by Kimi and Tonia, with family and friends. The big surprise there was that Aunt Margie and Aunt Amelia surprised me by flying out for it. I was busily inspecting the food when they jumped out and nearly sent me into labor. Again, I cried, of course. The shower was beautiful and I had a great time. My final shower was thrown by my colleagues at work. It was also a lot of fun, and my mom came along to meet all of the people I work with. She got a small taste of what I get everyday, by hearing the same sentiments over and over..."You are going to love being a grandmother!""Being a grandma is so much fun!" etc., etc.

Because we have awesome family and friends, we either received or were able to purchase most of the necessities on our registry. Andy's mom bought us the bedding to help us complete the nursery, and it looks so pretty:

Other than the showers, I have been busy with physical therapy. About two months ago, I started having really sharp pains in my pelvic area. My doctor recommended me to a physical therapist and they found that Emma had stretched my abdominal muscles so much, they split. Splitting about 2-3 fingers width is normal, but mine split 5-6 fingers width. This has caused all of her weight to rest on my pelvic bone, which had now been knocked 2 inches out of alignment. Hence the major pain when walking. Over the past couple months, I have been doing abdominal strengthening exercises to help "gel" my muscles back together, participating in EXTREMELY painful pelvic exercises to realign my bones, and I now have to wear a support band to help hold Emma up. It's been helping, but let's just say that I'm ready for it to be over.

Last week, we found out why Emma was tearing me up. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 11 oz. at 37 weeks. At 5'2", there aren't many places for her to go, so all of that weight + being on my feet all day + being short = lots and lots of pain. I have another ultrasound on Thursday so they can check her weight again. If she's continuing to gain weight, they will schedule me for a c-section. I guess I'm just too small for this baby business and they're afraid that she could get stuck and injured. Here is a great picture of my little "moose" and her already chubby cheeks.



Emma and I are still hanging in there at 38 weeks today. I only have four days left of work, which will be a big help. Being at home in my P.J.'s is a lot easier on my body than running after third graders all day. We are anxiously waiting for Emma's arrival, which honestly, can be any day. I'm thinking that she's going to come early, on the 10th, since there is a full moon that night. I know she'll come when she's ready, but I can't wait to meet her!