Showered With Love

My sister Merideth and I

We had our third and final baby shower last weekend (I've been terrible about getting on the ball and posting anything very quickly, sorry!). My sister Merideth threw the shower, and in true Merideth style it was wonderful! It was at McMenamins Kennedy School....if you've never been there it's a cool old funky elementary school turned into restaurants and bars, a movie theatre and a hotel with many meeting and party rooms. We had tasty food to enjoy and it was a nice time to catch up with lots of friends and family. We were given so many wonderful gifts and are really truly "set" as far as baby supplies go (at least we think!). Thanks to everyone who worked to put the party on and to all of those that came and celebrated with us, it was a wonderful party!
The food was really tasty! We had tiny cupcakes with pink sprinkles from Saint Cupcake....yummy!The cute table decor

Every kid needs their own truck book....just in case she's a little too girly :)

The adorable quilt that my mom made for the baby

We Are So Loved!

Sweet packages with all sorts of pink galore!

We are so lucky to be so loved by so many people! Jason has a group of friends that have been together since they were in 3rd grade. They all went to grade school, jr. high and high school together and some went to U of O together as well. As time has gone by they've all remained close, and as they each start dating or go on to get married the friendships just expand. All of us girls are very similar and have a great time when we get together. As you can imagine since the guys have all grown up together their parents have all kept in touch a bit and kept tabs on what all the guys are up to. Last weekend Josh's mom, Pat, and wife, Amy, had a baby shower for us. We were given so many wonderfully thoughtful gifts, words of wisdom, and had a great time together. While all of us girls and the moms did our girly shower thing the guys went skeet shooting at Dan's uncle's house. While the boys played outside in the cold rain us girls stayed warm and dry and ate goodies...worked out wonderfully for both groups! Thanks Pat and Amy, it was a special day and a nice reminder of just how loved we are!

Pat (Josh's Mom), Jean (Roman's Mom), Mary (Dan's Mom),

Lorri (Jason's Mom), Janet (Levi's Mom), Me (the mom to be)

Can't wait for her to wear these! Maybe her first words will be "Go Ducks!"

Lacey and I playing the pass the binky game...it was a race to see
who could pass a pacifier from straw to straw down the line of people the fastest. It certainly made for some good laughs!

3D Baby Pics

Here are a few 3D ultrasound pictures that one of my co-workers took...the baby never wants to cooperate much when we have a moment to scan her, but we'll take what we can get! We'll just have to wait until she makes her real appearance to the world to see her whole cute face. We're 33 weeks this week. We had an OB appointment yesterday and he said all looks great. She's head down, which is quite nice of her, normally this late in the game they don't flip around to become breech again once they are head first (but I shouldn't hold my breath I guess). We scheduled all of our appointments through the end of April, even for a week after our due date. We figured if we schedule the week 41 appointment now then maybe we won't need it!

We started our childbirth classes last night too. Our teacher is a midwife and she is really really good. Last night was really just about the physiology of what happens in labor and the phases of what will happen etc. We learned a great visualization/relaxation technique and a simple breathing method, overall it was a good class and even if we didn't learn much new info it was just reassuring and comforting to have someone tell you that labor is manageable and do-able!

The best face shot she would give us. She is pressed up against the uterus. You can see her chubby cheek, eye, nose and part of her lips.

This is her bent arm. You can see her shoulder, elbow, forearm and hand. Her hand is up by her face but it's tough to tell that.

These might be tougher to decipher...it's a side view of the leg: thigh, knee, lower leg, foot. It was so cute, when we took this one we could see her wiggling her toes up and down...can't wait to play this little piggy with those toes! :) The second photo is a footprint (the stuff all around it is just uterus and placenta).

This is the side of her face. You can see her eye, forehead, cheek, bit of her nose, and lips. Her hand is up by her face, that's the blob in front of her nose.

Her arms and hands. Looks like she's flexing her muscles in the first one.

Manson Baby Shower

This last weekend Jason's family had a baby shower for us. It was so great to get to see everyone and have some girl time. My sister-in-law Sara and mother-in-law Lorri planned the party and they did a great job. We played some fun games...guess the baby food by smelling or tasting it (nasty stuff I tell ya!), guess the candy bar that's melted in a diaper (made me cringe at what diapers are to come!), and the toilet paper around the belly game. We were given so many wonderful gifts and words of wisdom. This baby is already so loved it's just amazing! Thanks Manson friends and family, you are all so special to us!

The Baby's Auntie Sara

The cutest baby sized Adidas

The Baby's Great Great Grandma

Belly Pic

I've had many requests for a belly photo, so here's what I've got. We'll be 32 weeks this Thursday. I had a wonderful shower with the Manson side of the family this last weekend. Photos to come.

Letterboxing

Jason was listening to the radio and they were taking calls about the top 10 dates for under $25. Well one caller told about this scavenger hunt type adventure they do called letterboxing...we'd never heard of it but sounded like fun. The website www.letterboxing.org has all the details but this is what they say about it, "LETTERBOXING is an intriguing pastime combining navigational skills and rubber stamp artistry in a charming "treasure hunt" style outdoor quest. A wide variety of adventures can be found to suit all ages and experience levels." Basically you find the clues online, search by your state or city, find your way to the place where a box is hidden, once you've found the box stamp in their logbook with your stamp, stamp in your logbook with your stamp They have these all over the country, the list of all the places boxes are located is on the website.
We tried it out this weekend, and although we didn't find any boxes (we think that this winter's storms and debris all over the place didn't help) we did discover a really cool park that is close to our new home and has tons of hiking trails and is along the Willamette River. That was really the main goal anyway, to get outside, spend some time together, and get acquinted with our neighborhood.

(In Mary Young State Park searching for letterboxes)

On a sidenote we're dogsitting for my parents this week. Annie is used to getting two walks a day, so needless to say we've been getting our exercise between walking her and running up and down our stairs to take her outside. Note to self, do not get a dog unless you have a yard!

Jason and Annie at the beginning of the letterbox quest!

Every good park needs a fire hydrant in the middle of it right? RANDOM!

The Birds are Getting Bigger!

When Jason goes on runs he is always on the lookout for as much wildlife as he can find. When he gets back home he reports to me what he saw and how many. Back in California he would typically see a mix of chipmunks, lizards, bunny rabbits, and road runners. Well the other day he was on a run around the neighborhood here at our new apartment and came across an animal that he never expected….you may be thinking something run of the mill like a deer, raccoon, nutria, opossum…oh no, that’s what I thought too – he saw a wild turkey in someone’s yard! What the heck!? He said he rounded a corner and there it was in all it’s big-ass-bird glory staring back at him! Just goes to show you never know what mother nature’s gonna throw your way!