Happy Mother's Day!

First of all, happy mother's day to all of the mothers out there (and I include mothers of fur babies in that category)! For the most part, today was pretty uneventful since Craig had to work an overnight. He's been trying out Insanity, so while he did that, I got some bonding time in with Teddy and Darla at the dog park. Their lives are about to change A LOT, so I want them to be reminded of how much we love them.

32 weeks

33 weeks

Things have been going well in our lives. I'm almost done with school, which is so hard for me to believe! All I have left is a full day tomorrow, a half-day Tuesday, and then teacher workdays on Wednesday and Thursday! After that, we'll officially be full-term with less than three weeks until Booger's due date. This teaching job definitely made my pregnancy fly by--I feel like I just started teaching! Unless Booger comes early, I'll use that time as a chance to further prepare for his arrival...and I'll definitely also be doing some vegging.

34 weeks

We finished painting Booger's room, which is exciting. I'm happy with the final color, but now we still need to decorate and fill it with books and toys. Craig's mom, Nancy, ordered a crib for us, and it'll be nice when that's finally up. We already have some cute dinosaur sheets ready to go for it. Neither of us is really into baseball/basketball/football stuff for babies, but we are all about dinosaurs! He'll have his own tastes as he grows up, but for now, we get to call the shots when it comes to decorating.

Painting away

The final product

Since we have less than a month until the due date, we're up to an appointment a week now, so I've had a few since the last time I wrote. They've all gone well, which is great. I signed the waiver for the water birth, so that's an option if we want it. I just can't do it before 37 weeks, so I need to make it to Wednesday and be set. He doesn't feel like he's going anywhere soon, so I don't think that will be a problem. Other than that, his heartbeat has been consistently good, which makes me a very happy mom. At 35 weeks, he was measuring at 34 weeks, but last week (36) he had jumped ahead to 36 weeks. Apparently he went through his own little growth spurt to play catch up.  The only problem at the moment is that for the last two weeks he's been in a posterior position, which means his back is facing my back when it should be facing my belly. It's not a huge deal, but it can apparently make labor last longer and be more painful. I've been working on improving my posture and trying some exercises to get him to shift--we'll see what they say at the appointment on Thursday.

Still so happy

I've definitely hit a point in my pregnancy where I've discovered that I am somewhat limited in the things I can do. I mean, I already knew that I can't move very quickly and that I'm slightly less graceful in said movements. What's frustrating is the fact that I'm starting to feel a bit helpless. I mean that in the sense that I'm a pregnant woman about to pop, so it's silly for me to take unnecessary risks on a day-to-day basis (not that I was living a particularly risky life before this). Let me explain myself: Yesterday Craig and I took Teddy and Darla for long walk around our neighborhood. We came upon a house with a big boxer in the fenced-in backyard. We didn't think much of it because of the fence. As we passed the house, though, the dog was suddenly out of the backyard and running at us! (His owners later tried to say "Oh, how did you open the gate?" when they came out, but Craig and I agree that that gate was open the entire time.) Anyway, that dog was BIG (Craig guessed over 100 lbs) and immediately began attacking T and D. Thankfully Craig was there and could hold him back until his owners ran outside. All of us were fine, but it left us a bit shaken up. Anyway, when Craig was going to do Insanity this morning, I initially said I'd take the dogs for a walk. Craig pointed out that it would be bad (really bad) for me to be in that situation again but by myself. He had a point, so I took them to the dog park instead. Well, guess what happened? We walked in there, and immediately a different boxer began attacking Teddy! The owner was right there, so she and I broke it up fairly quickly, but it was quite upsetting for me (and Teddy!) to have that happen twice in two days! I should add that I have no hard feelings against boxers--in fact, I really love that breed. That was just an unfortunate coincidence. Long story short, both experiences reminded me that I'm not the best person to defend either myself or my fur babies at the moment. It's also frustrating because I want to get outside with my dogs, and I feel like I'm putting all of us at risk. Very, very frustrating. I should add that Craig currently works 2-10, so it's not as if I can always count on him being with us--and, quite frankly, I shouldn't need "protection" on a walk or a trip to the dog park!

35 weeks

Anyway, that's the only downside these days, and that was just this weekend. Other than that, things have been great. My school put on Annie last weekend and the weekend prior, and I was so proud watching the "orphans" perform my choreography! Also, Craig and I took some informal maternity pictures with my sister Sydney last weekend. Craig had trouble taking it seriously, but I'm really happy with how they turned out!

In other news, Baby Gray-Lobe is now out and in the world! Little Alda Marie was born May 2 at 9 lbs 4 oz. She's a beautiful little doll, and Charlie is already a great big brother. I can't wait for Baby Powell to come out and join the fun!

Alda Marie

April Showers

Things have been moving along nicely during the past month. Work is keeping both Craig and me busy, but it's really making the time fly by. Just over seven more weeks until Booger's due date! The downside right now is that Craig's shift changed at the prison. He's working two P.M. to ten P.M. That means we really don't see each other...at all. I wake up while he's still in bed, and he comes home after I'm already in bed. This past week was his "long" week, and we both had colds, which made our situation extra miserable. Oh well. He has tomorrow off, which, coincidentally, is my birthday. Then he'll have two other days off, plus the weekend. We just have to get through these long stretches. I just have four weeks of school left, and after that, I can just adapt to Craig's schedule.

28 weeks

As far as school goes, I've continued to help a bit with the school musical, which opens in two weekends. On top of that, I tentatively accepted a position as the assistant speech coach for next year. I'm a bit concerned that I'm biting off more than I can chew, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Speech starts in January and goes through March. By that time, I'll have an entire semester as a working mom under my belt. Also, we found a daycare that we feel really good about if Craig isn't able to be home with Booger while I'm at speech practice. Right now, at school, I'm trying to limit the time I spend on my feet. I'm so thankful there are only four weeks left--after that, I can sit on the couch and put up my feet until Booger makes his grand entrance!

29 weeks

One of the biggest things that happened in the past month was my baby shower! I had it early because of Geoff and Sarah's baby. I was worried that if I had it in April, they would be at the hospital having their baby. Likewise, if I waited until May, I was worried that our little guy would make his appearance early. Also, it's nice to know what we still need at this point, so we can buy and prepare. Anyway, the shower was a ton of fun! If you're reading this, a huge thank you again to the lovely ladies who put it on! There were fun games, but nothing gross like the candy bar in the diaper. The food was great--the cake was so cute and delicious! We got a lot of fun gifts. Booger is completely outfitted for at least the first three months of his life. Also, he has more tennis shoes than one baby could ever need--I can't wait to see how they look on him! On top of that, Craig and I received little words of wisdom from all the women there. We were given a little album in which to place these messages, so we can look back at them. All in all, the party was a huge success.

Guitar beanie, a necessity for any newborn.

Like I said, the shower gave us a chance to see what we still need, and the biggest ticket item was a stroller-car seat combo. We decided to go ahead and get it now just in case Booger comes early. Anyway, it arrived in the mail last week, and Craig and I were more excited than two adults should ever be about a stroller and car seat. I love the fact that there are cup holders for both us and the baby. We're gonna be the cool family strolling around town, that's for sure.

Setting up the stroller

The final product

During our last centering class, Craig and I got a tour of the birthing center (finally!). I'm a very visual person, so it definitely helps me to picture where I'll be when I'm in labor. Also, our hospital recently started offering water births as an option--it's the first hospital in the state of South Dakota to do so! It was great getting to see a tub and to get an explanation about the water birth process. At our class this week, we'll learn a bit more about water births, and if it's something we're interested in, we can sign a waiver. At this point, I'd at least like to have a water birth as an option, so I'll definitely sign the waiver.

Amazing diaper cake made by my friend Ramsey

Yesterday, my mom and I attended a class called Hypnobirthing. Craig had to work, so he couldn't be there. In fact, with his new schedule, he won't be at our next few appointments either. It's a very long trip to make by oneself. Anyway, Hypnobirthing was another one of the reasons I chose our hospital. It's a relatively new birthing class, but from what I can tell, it really does work. It's all about preparing oneself for labor and accepting the discomfort that goes along with it rather than being afraid of any type of pain.  My midwife was the instructor, and it was nice seeing her since she's not the person leading our centering class. During the class, which was a full day, we did different hypnosis exercises, we watched a number of hypnobirthing videos, and we discussed labor and delivery. Everyone received handouts, a textbook, and a CD, and we're advised to listen to the CD every night before bed. The goal is to be able to reach the totally relaxed state quite easily so that by the time labor comes, the woman can simply feel relaxed and work through any sort of pressure or discomfort. I listened to the CD last night, and it really is relaxing. With a class like this, I believe that it will work that much better if you truly believe it will work. If there's any skepticism or doubt then it will be that much more difficult. The whole point is that your mind should be stronger than your body, but if you're experiencing doubt then your mind has already decided that it won't work--and then, of course, it won't. I'm very open to this working, but only time will tell how successful I'll be. At this point, I'll listen to my CD and continue to stay relaxed and focused!

Posing with the delicious baby shower cake

The fun part of the class yesterday was that nearly every time we did a hypnosis exercise, I'd become very relaxed, but Booger would move around like crazy. Apparently he's not as easily susceptible to hypnosis as I am.

Baby Girl Gray-Lobe and Baby Boy Powell

Every day Craig and I get more and more excited about meeting our son. His behavior yesterday was nothing out of the ordinary. He's a very active little baby, but it's clear that he's running out of room. Rather than kicking as much as he used to, he'll now just stick a foot out and hold it there. Unfortunately, it's normally right under my ribs. It's not super comfortable, but usually a firm poke from me will make him pull it back in. Of course, then he just stretches out in a different spot. It's fun to think that he and I are already playing little games together in a way.

31 weeks

Oh, one thing that I almost forgot! Craig and I are currently working on preparing Booger's room. It had really terrible 1980s Disney wallpaper before, so now we're stripping it. We're still not done, but it shouldn't be too much longer. It's just hard with our schedules. Once that's done, we'll sand, paint, and start decorating. I can't wait!

The "Before" shot...hopefully "After" will be in the next post

Craig scraping away (Darla's helping)

Well, it's Sunday night, and I still have some grading to do. Tomorrow I'll be twenty-five--a quarter of a century! I guess I won't be able to call Craig an old man anymore.

Our rapidly expanding family

Entering the Final Stretch

After typing the title to this blog post, I just realized that I accidentally made a pun. My first meaning is meant to bring attention to the fact that I am now in my third trimester! Woo! When I first found out that I was pregnant, I remember thinking how far away this seemed, but here we are. Booger will be here before we know it! The second, pun, meaning deals with the fact that my skin will go through its own final stretch. I honestly can't understand how my midsection can get any bigger, but apparently it's possible. I've already added a good twelve inches to my waistline. Yes, as in a foot.  While I don't have any tattoos to mark the changes to my belly, I have noticed that some of my moles have shifted their positions. One that's normally toward the front of my stomach has now migrated to my side. Crazy.

22 weeks

We had our last appointment two weeks ago today, and it went well. Unfortunately we weren't able to have our usual centering class because it happened to fall on one of the three snowy days we had this winter. The midwives' office actually cancelled because they didn't want anyone on the roads. So basically we drove up a week later (and a day after our move, I might add---more on that soon) for a fifteen-minute appointment. It was short, but the important thing was learning that Booger is still doing great. We got to hear his heartbeat again, and that sounds never gets old. I could honestly sit and listen to it for hours.

23 weeks

As far as my growth goes, I'm right where they want me to be even though both Craig and I gasped a little bit when we saw my weight. Belly measurement-wise, I'm "perfect," so that's good, too. Thing are cruising along nicely, and our next centering class will be next Thursday. With the way the weather's been, I don't think we'll have to worry about any winter storms this time.

25 weeks

Booger has been insanely active, which is great! I've even started to notice little patterns throughout the day. For example, he kicks right when I wake up and later right around the time I'm teaching seventh grade English. Yesterday, because of the nice weather, Craig grilled some burgers outside. They had a spicy kick to them, and sure enough, Booger started kicking soon after I ate mine. I know he's barely over a foot long and just over two pounds, but I imagine him kicking around with so much personality in there. When someone's kicking you from the inside, it's hard to imagine him being calm and mundane.

26 weeks

In other news, Craig and I went ahead and registered for baby gear at Target. I was really looking forward to it, but I quickly learned that registering on a Saturday afternoon at Target should be included as one of the inner rings of hell. Every other time we've gone to check out baby stuff, it's been completely empty. As in, there were crickets chirping. Not this time. It was so crowded, and it was made even more crowded due to the fact that half our population in that section was pregnant. Oh well, I'm pretty sure we still managed to register for the essentials (and some non-essentials, but come on, baby sneakers are just too damn cute!).

Ready to register!

Perhaps the biggest thing happening in our lives right now, as well as the fact that I haven't posted in a while, is the fact that Craig and I bought a house! I know, crazy, right? After several attempts over the years, we finally found ourselves in the perfect position to purchase a home. For kicks, we looked at this house last November after driving past it, but we didn't think we would actively start looking until after Booger's born. Well, after some talking, we decided that it would be far less stressful to get a house while Booger is still in the womb rather than outside it. Anyway, now here we are! We moved in two weeks ago, and we had wonderful family members and friends helping us (thank you again!). There's still a lot left to do, but it feels so great knowing that this is our home. As far as what's included, we have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, two living room areas, a nice open kitchen, a fireplace, a finished basement, and a fenced-in yard. Also, we're three houses away from an elementary school! Yep, we love it, and we're pretty sure Booger will, too.

Our sunny front room

On the work front, Craig and I are both enjoying our jobs. Craig's currently applying to be a part of a special unit at the prison where he works. Basically, if there was a riot or something of that nature, he'd be part of the team taking care of business. My job is keeping me busy, but I'm now more than halfway through the semester. In fact, I've completed eleven weeks and only have eight left! I can't believe how quickly time is flying by! I feel as though I've hit my stride. Still, I'll be happy when the school year is over so I can put up my feet. As a teacher, I'm on my feet most of the day, and I definitely feel it by the time I get home.

Darla and Teddy exploring the basment

I'll end this post with some funny stories. First, one day a few weeks ago one of my juniors said to me, "Mrs. Powell, don't take this the wrong way, but you really look pregnant now." Ha! It's true that I'm much larger than I was when I started teaching in January! Next, my sister Luci came to visit, and she freaked out upon feeling Booger kick. Also, I showed her my belly button, an image which I'm sure could prevent many teenage pregnancies. Lastly, even though I've added roughly thirty pounds to my frame, I don't feel as though I'm that much larger than usual. I quickly learned that lesson. I've been helping out with the choreography for our school's spring musical, Annie, and I attempted to hoist myself up onto the stage from the floor. Well, with my extra weight, I didn't get very far at all!

27 weeks

Well, it's time to go enjoy this beautiful weather. T-minus twelve weeks until Booger's due date!!

It's a BOY!

Well, the title of this post says it all! We had our ultrasound, and it turned out that our little baby had all the telltale signs of being a little boy! When the the woman doing our ultrasound got to the space between his legs, she said "Oh!" and then, "Well, would you like to take a guess at what it is?" I don't know about you, but I think people only exclaim "Oh!" when they've seen something. So we guessed boy, and boy-oh-boy were we right! I was so excited about knowing during the rest of the ultrasound, and every once in a while I'd giggle and say "Craig, he has a tiny little penis!" To preserve some ounce of dignity for the adult my child will someday be, I will not be posting the giveaway picture, but trust me, he's a he.

Our baby boy!

The rest of that day/ultrasound went really well. We both took the day off work, so we were able to sleep in a bit (although I really couldn't because I was so excited). We headed up early and ate at a Vietnamese restaurant--we were hoping the spicy food would ensure that Booger would be awake and kicking (it did). Oh, that reminds me...the night before, I finally felt Booger make some definite movement! The morning of the ultrasound, it happened again. It was as though he was just as excited about us seeing him as we were! Both times Craig was even able to feel the movement. It was incredible, and now I've felt a little movement each day since then.

Seventeen weeks

Anyway, after lunch, we headed to the hospital where our appointment started almost a half hour late. I was getting VERY antsy, but they finally got us in right after I reminded them that we were still waiting. The rest of the ultrasound went really well. Booger is progressing well. He's in the fifty-first percentile, which is right where they want him to be. He's a whopping fifteen ounces, so he's actually about three days ahead of schedule. They're keeping the same due date, but technically he's on schedule to come around the third of June rather than the sixth. Keep that information in mind when you start placing bets! I'm not sure what his length is, but the woman said his head is one inch from ear to ear. He still has quite a bit of growing to do!

Nineteen weeks

After the ultrasound, we had our second centering class, which went really well. We discussed some of the not-so-great side effects of pregnancy. I'm glad Craig's been able to make it to the first two, but I don't know if he'll be able to make it to most of the rest of them. We'll see.

Beefy baby leg!

On our way home, we stopped in Vermillion to celebrate our exciting news with loved ones. We had made a point to call and text people between the ultrasound and centering, so everyone already knew by that time. It was fun to talk about it in person and show people our baby's cute pictures.

Twenty weeks

Not much else is going on on the baby front. Like I said, Booger's movements are far more noticeable now, which is a ton of fun for both of us. We're trying to figure out some boy names, which is proving to be a challenge. We have a few names in the running, though. Our goal is a name that's a little different, but not obnoxiously different. Hopefully we'll have a few options lined up by the time Booger is here, and then we'll know when we see him.

Flexible baby

We've had some other big life changes in the past month. At the end of my fourth week at my bank job, I heard about a mid-year teaching position that opened up. Over the next few days, I inquired about it, interviewed for it, and then the day after interviewing, I was offered the job! Did I mention that this was the day before classes started? I left the bank right then, went to the school to meet the other teachers, and then I showed up as the newest teacher the next day. That first day was a little crazy. I had students peeking in my room in the morning, and then I'd hear giggling from the group as they left my room. Since then, I've settled in pretty well. There have been some ups and downs. It's definitely not easy to just jump into teaching without any preparation for lessons, but since then I've developed a pretty good routine. The school has a block schedule (classes are an hour and a half), and my first block is my prep time. That means I have my first hour and a half to prepare for the rest of the day. After that, I have a class called Study Skills with 8th graders, homeroom with 7th graders, lunch, 7th grade English, and then 11th  grade English. It's definitely a huge jump to go from middle schoolers to high schoolers, but I'm getting used to it. All of my students are excited about the baby, and I took a poll before the ultrasound. When I announced the gender, my students who guessed correctly cheered. Also, my 7th graders made me a little sign that said "Congradulations Mrs. Powell" (complete with the spelling error...I have work to do), and they all signed it. It was very sweet. I've already survived my first parent-teacher conferences, as well as my first confrontation with cheating students. Like I said, there have been ups and downs, but I think I'm settling in pretty well.

Twenty-one weeks

Our other big life change is the fact that Craig and I are in the process of buying a house! We've gone through the steps a few times in the past, but this is the first time we've made it this far in the process. So far, we've had an inspection, made a list of things we wanted fixed, and the seller has agreed to fix six of the seven things on our list. Next, we'll have the appraisal, but it seems as though we've made it through the most difficult steps. In less than two months, we could be in our new 3-bed, 2-bath house! And in less than five months, we'll be bringing Booger home to it!

A shot of the proud dad, too!

Okay, that's it for tonight. Craig and I have had a great weekend of being lazy, and I need to get back to vegging out with him.

Obligatory creepy lava baby picture

Boy or Girl?

I thought I'd get a brief post in before we head to our ultrasound today. We've known from the beginning that we want to find out the baby's gender at our ultrasound. Some people say it's not a surprise that way, but frankly, we've already gone this long without knowing. It will still be a surprise for us--we'll just be finding out a little sooner! With future children we might be a bit more patient (key word is "might"), but since this is our first child, we really want to find out. I feel like we'll be entering a new chapter of this pregnancy. Booger will no longer be "it" but "he" or "she." We'll be able to buckle down on names. Our families will be able to satisfy the urge to buy gender-specific outfits. On top of all of this, Craig and I have a friendly bet. From the beginning, he's felt that we're having a boy, and I've felt that we're having a girl. Whoever's right gets to a choose a special date for the two us. To be honest, I felt that Booger is a girl in the beginning, but now I really don't know. I feel like I should have some kind of mother's intuition, but there are some days when I feel it's a boy and others when I'm positive it's a girl. I've had dreams with both a boy baby and a girl baby. I've tried old wives' tricks and most have said it's a girl, but there are still some that say it's a boy. I'll just go with the age-old new-parent saying of "It doesn't matter to me as long as it's healthy and happy." I know that gets said a lot, but it's true. This baby will obviously be loved and adored no matter what--we just can't wait to take one more step in getting to know our baby today!