Week 33 (and one day)

This week flew by! We are now at 33 weeks and 1 day. We have 48 days left until Ruthie's due date!

Babycenter: This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

The Bump:
Baby's now the size of a honeydew!
Things are heating up inside as well: Baby may grow up to a full inch this week alone, and her brain is developing like crazy. Pretty soon, she'll be able to coordinate breathing with sucking and swallowing. Also, her bones are hardening, and she's started to keep his eyes open when she's awake.

Yesterday, we went for our dr.'s appointment and then to a class called "Baby Steps" to learn to care for an infant. It was very informative and exciting! We will have our baby girl home soon and can't wait while also being a little on the scared side that we might hurt her. I am sure all will be ok though. We did learn a lot and feel a little more prepared, not fully prepared, b/c that is just not possible. I'm just happy to know that baby oil and baby powder along with a bumper in the crib as not good for a baby and that the temperature of the room needs to be between 68 and 72 degrees. We will need to sit down in the next week or so and look over the notes and book we got to refresh our minds on what we learned last night. I'm just excited and ready to meet Ruthie instead of just having her move and bounce around in my body! She is a very active child!

A Much Needed Restful Weekend

Matt and I enjoyed a weekend at home resting. We missed my family back in GA, but truly needed the rest.

Friday, we went to Tangled and to have Mexican food for dinner (I think I may have mentioned this yesterday).

Yesterday, we decorated the house, cleaned a little, I wrote Thank you notes, Matt did a podcast, and we started a puzzle. There was also a game on TV that caused a little division in our home, but we will not speak of that other than for me to say "GO DAWGS!"

Today, we went to church, picked up some meds for Maggie, ate lunch, took a 2 hour nap (b/c soon that will not be possible), and finished the puzzle. Matt also worked on some school stuff, but it is editing a video which he enjoys.

We only have 3 weeks, one of which is a week of finals, before Christmas Break. Ruthie has been given instructions that Momma and Daddy must finish out the semester before she can come, but then she is welcome to come when she wants as long as she is healthy. I'm sure she understands this completely and will comply with our request. After classes are over, I will spend time finishing up stuff in the nursery and try to rest and prepare for celebrating Christmas.

As for this week, we have a Baby Steps Class at the hospital tomorrow evening after our Dr.'s appointment at 3:45. Hopefully when we finish our class tomorrow we will know everything there is to know about caring for an infant. I'm sure they can tell us everything in the 3.5 hours we will be there. right? right... We are also going to this class with the Bevils, so I am sure that with Jonathon and Matt in a room there will be plenty of stories to share.

Well, snjoy the pictures and have a great week!

Picture of our tree

another picture of out tree


the Nativity which I'm sure you are fully aware is my favorite thing of our Christmas decorations as I take a picture of it every year for everyone to see even though it looks just the same as every other year. But I do think it is beautiful!

Matt showing off the wreath on the door

Mags enjoying the tree and lights

Our stockings. Notice the cute stocking for Ruthie with a toy sticking out. Yes, that is here first Christmas present that Daddy insisted on her having and I of course thought well of course she must have it. It is cute and a giraffe! We also bought a new stocking hanger. it's a really cute penguin which takes me back to my early Wesley days and is just really adorable just like our daughter is!

Finally, the puzzle that we completed over the weekend. We still have a few more to work on that we will try to do over Christmas break before little girl arrives and leaves us with no time to enjoy our hobby.

A lot of Blogs in One

I have been meaning to blog all week and just haven't so now I will attempt to blog about a few things at one time.

First, last Friday (Nov 19th) the ladies at my practicum sight threw us a shower to "Build Ruthie a Library". Here are some pictures of what we got. We also had a very yummy lunch of vegetable soup and a salad along with some cake.

Here is the basket with a blanket and the books inside

4 of the books

4 more books

We were at Target last week and found this rug and it is so perfect for Ruthie's room we couldn't pass it up.

I also found this beautiful picture frame to put a picture of Ruthie at birth through her first birthday. I have been looking everywhere for one and I found this one for 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby. I love love love Hobby Lobby!

Matt and I have had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break. Matt worked Mon-Wed and then his parents came to town from Wed to Friday. We had Thanksgiving Lunch at Cracker Barrel. We had to wait a while, but the food was really good. I missed my momma's sweet potatoes and my Gram's dressing, but it was good. We also had some good company. The in-laws and 2 couples we are friends (The Murray's and the Meyers) with joined us as well. We didn't do very much other than rest on Thanksgiving day. On Friday, Matt and I had lunch with his parents and then headed into Target to return some things and look around for Christmas presents. Then we went to see "Tangled". It was very good and I think everyone should see it! Today, we are resting, doing a puzzle, watching a movie, decorating, and I have thank you notes to do. I was planning to write a paper, but it isn't due for 3 weeks so I will just wait until next week.

As for the next few pictures, we woke up Friday morning to SNOW! yep, snow! here are the pictures of the first snow of the season. I am hoping that we don't ever get more than this for the whole winter this year. A girl can dream!


here is a picture of the boots I bought with some of my birthday money. This one is for my momma.

Finally, I found this cute doll for Ruthie to have as her first baby doll. Every girl needs a first baby doll so this is her's. Here name is Buttercup, she is made for kids who has asthma and allergies, and she was found on Amazon for a really great price. She is made by Kids Preferred.
I got this one just in case she comes out with her father's allergies she can still play with the doll.

That is it for now. Matt's dad took some group photos that I will upload once they are sent to me.
Hope you all have a restful weekend!

Week 32

Week 32! We have less than 2 months until Ruthie's due date. How wonderful?!?
Now all we need are some more diapers, a diaper pail, bed skirt, bumper, curtains and rod, a hamper, and maybe a diaper bag.
I have so many bags that I might just use one of the many hanging out in the closet.

The Bump:
Baby's now the size of a squash!
Ready or not, baby's getting ready to emerge. She's probably in the head-down position by now, with her bottom facing up. This is the comfiest way for her body to fit in your increasingly cramped womb and will make her eventual exit (only a few months away now!) much easier. (If she's still head-up, don't panic -- there's still time for a flip before birth.)


Baby Center:
By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.
Does anyone know what a jicama is? I saw a picture of it, but I have never heard of it until today.

So we are very close to the end. This week we celebrate Thanksgiving and are so happy for our cute little family that will soon grow to 4 in a few short weeks. I think Maggie is going to love her little sister! We will be spending the holidays in KY this year.
If you want to come visit, know you are welcome. Just call first to make sure we are home!

On a side note: I am having very strange dreams. Nothing too crazy, but very vivid about Ruthie coming early and stuff like that. Matt is also having strange dreams occasionally.
Is this normal? If you want to hear any of the dreams give me a call and I'll fill you in, but I will not make everyone read about my strangeness!
Also, the weight is ever fluctuating which is leading me to believe that the scales in the dr.'s office are just completely unreliable. Yep, that is what I am telling myself.
I am also now craving things again. Today, it was Captain D's.

That's all for now, but stay tuned for a late post later this week about my sweet friends at practicum who threw us a "Build Ruthie a Library" shower!

Pictures by Susan My Shower

The scrapbook

Kristen looking through the scrapbook
Nina, who opened her house to us for the shower, making a scrapbook page


Here I am with the hostesses

Here Missy and I are showing off our bellies
I am working on the scrapbook
opening presents

Baby Shower

Yesterday, 3 of my friends (Susan, Amy, and Missy) threw me a shower! It was so much fun and so beautiful! Also, thanks to Nina for opening her home to us to have the shower. It was such a wonderful time and Ruthie is almost completely prepared to be born. Ok, well as ready as she can be, I think we will never really be ready!

Here are some pics that were taken with my camera and I will load some later that were taken with other people's cameras.

Here is the food!
more food


Missy made a cake.
She is talented and the cake is awesome!

Lots of people hanging out


The guests all made a page (or 2 or 3) for a scrapbook.
Now all I have to do is print out pictures and
stick them in the book! how cool is that!


more hanging out and eating the wonderful food!






After the shower, I came home and straightened up
the nursery and put most of the stuff away.
Here is the verse finally hung on the wall as well.
And thanks to Matt it is sturdily hung on the wall!


Here is the beautiful quilt that Susan made Ruthie. It is perfect and I know Ruthie will love it!

close up shot!

lots of lotion, soap, and shampoo for Ruthie
along with bath toys and butt paste

Diapers and wipes

toys and books!

We also finally hung the shelf

a beautiful bow made by my friend Joey that can be hung
on the hospital door and on our front door at home!

clothes, towels, socks, wash cloths, and blankets
all to be washed for little Ruthie to use and wear!

The scrapbook!

Week 31

Today, we are at 31 weeks! Time is flying! I can't even believe that next week is Thanksgiving and then within 4 weeks it will be Christmas! I just can't wait to meet little Ruthie though.

The Bump:
Baby's now the size of a squash!- Again
Baby's going through major brain and nerve development these days. Her irises now react to light, and all five senses are in working order. (She won't pick up anything from her nose until after birth, though -- smell is transferred through air, not amniotic fluid.)
Babycenter:
This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. She's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.


Ruthie is moving a lot these days. I sit in class and my stomach just jumps up and down a lot. I have had to move out of the desks and into chairs and tables. Luckily, I have a great husband who brings me a chair to my classroom each Tues/Thurs morning since there isn't a chair and table in that room. It is greatly appreciated. Soon I guess we will start to see little feet and hands sticking out of my tummy...