Down to the wire...

By John:

Ok, so first and foremost since there isn't a blog about it yet, Michelle is being induced tomorrow, June 29th, at 4 am. When she went to the doctor on Thursday he said that she was already 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. So, he asked if we wanted to wait for Michelle to go into labor naturally or be induced. Michelle chose to be induced and here we are, just about 8 hours till we are at the hospital. We're all packed and ready to go. I did have one project for Miller that I worked on today, and after completing it everything is now completely done. Here's what I worked on today:

So, you're probably wondering what the heck this wooden thing in Miller's room is. Well, let me explain it to you. The crib we bought for Miller resembles a sleigh bed. As you can see from the picture, the front, back and side top rails are very wide. This posed a problem for the Aggie mobile we bought, as the stand for the mobile would not fit on the wide rails. We looked online for other mobiles that would fit a crib with wide rails, but most of those were like $50 dollars, and I just couldn't see spending another $50 dollars to buy another mobile just so that we could attach our Aggie mobile to their stand. (and by the looks of most of the wide-rail fitting mobiles, the stands didn't look that sturdy) Most people told us to just get a wire and suspend the mobile from the ceiling. We have pretty high ceilings, and neither Michelle nor I wanted a six foot wire hanging from the ceiling to suspend the mobile. So, I built this stand as the answer to our problems. Total cost for wood, screws, and stain was $18 dollars. Here is a picture with the mobile actually attached to the stand:

I wanted to get another coat of stain on it, so that the color would be closer to the color of the crib, but I just didn't have the time. Here is a picture of the stand behind our glider, which is where it will stay:

I thought it was a pretty clever solution to the problem, and it worked out better than I thought it would. So now we are as ready as we will ever be, and it's a good thing too since we are about out of time. The next posts on here will probably have pictures of newborn Miller.

As promised, but a little late...

For Father's Day, I framed one of the pictures that Amy took during the maternity pictures. It was such a sweet picture of John, and, of course, Amy added her touch to it. I hadn't posted it before because I didn't want him to see it, and Amy had done a really good job of keeping it hidden for me.


I thought that I'd go ahead and take a picture, just in case we didn't make it to the fifth (which, I'm kind of starting to hope we won't). I'm 38 weeks, 3 days. John's at class tonight, so that's why the picture is off centered - I stuck the camera in the crease on the chair to take the picture. Also, it's stinking hot, so I pulled my hair up with a Lisa Frank pencil at work today. Heehee Oh, and that's Miller's swing there behind me, all put together, and waiting for him.

And for comparison, here I was on June 5, 2009 - 35 weeks, 5 days.

I've got a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. Hopefully, he'll be able to tell me I've changed, and give me an idea on when we can expect the little guy to make his appearance. I'm still working, and, let me tell you, it's not the most fun to work in a building without an elevator and in a room without central air. I do good until about 2:00. That's when things start to heat up. Other than that, I'm trying to stay upstairs as much as possible, but, yeah, that's pretty impossible. Only a week and a half until Miller's due date...craziness. OK, I'm off to switch between So You Think You Can Dance and the College World Series...that's a normal combination, right?

How could I forget?

I am so happy to post that Miller's future best friend was born this week. The Casas family had their second son on Monday. McKason Austin-Parker Casas was born on June 15, 2009. He was 21 inches long and 8 pounds, 8 ounces.

Here's a picture of the happy family.

This picture just chokes me up. Doesn't it look like McKason has a little smile on his face when his big brother kisses him? I love it.

It is strange because my whole pregnancy, Amy has been pregnant, so I've always been able to ask her, "Is this normal?" or "Are you going through this right now?" It's been great because she was only two and a half weeks ahead of me, so I almost always knew what to expect. It's just crazy to me that she now has her new baby at home, and that'll be us in just a few weeks. Congratulations Jessie and Amy. He's just adorable, and we can't wait to meet him in person.

Week 37 appointment and a little more randomness.

The doctor's appointment was pretty boring this week. Basically, we're still progressing, and he'll see me in a week.
Blood Pressure: 118/76
Cervix is soft
Dialation: Fingertip
I can tell I'm nearing the end of the pregnancy though. The heat of summer gets to me really quickly, so I'm trying to stay inside. I am sad to report that this week I got my first set of cankles. I've spent the rest of the week drinking glass after glass of water, which definitely seems to help keep the swelling down - counterintuitive, isn't it? Plus, it's getting kind of uncomfortable for me at night, and I've learned if I don't sleep with a pillow in between my legs, I'll be sore the next day. I guess it's just about adapting to what makes me feel the most comfortable.

Miller has made it to his final fruit. He's officially the size of a watermelon. Here's the link to the video Audra posted this week, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG76egCZXfo.

Last weekend, John and I spent getting everything ready for Miller. We took back duplicate gifts, and used our gift cards to get the remaining items we need before Miller makes his arrival. John got everything ready; car seat installed in my car, base in his car, remaining toys put together, and finished decorating Miller's room. While he was doing most of this, I got the rest of Miller's clothes, washed, dried, and put away. Here's some pictures of the room completely decorated, and some other random ones.

Lexi loves to look out the window in Miller's room. She's defintely a people watcher, and a bird watcher, and a anything that moves watcher. This is where she stays whenever we're in Miller's room.


Since it's been so hot outside lately, we've taken to letting Doobie in the house so he gets a chance to cool off. Here he is, jealously looking at Lexi because she's got the good spot next to the window.

This is the door to Miller's room. We actually used some of the decorations from one of my baby showers. It was just too cute not to find a use for it.

Here's some of the stuff we've hung up on the walls. The A&M mirror was something John won at a fair when he was in high school, or something like that. I stuck it in a shadow box, and it looks great. The other wall has handprint and footprint plaques that my friend Adriene gave us. In the middle is the coolest frame that John's sister Tess made. She's a big scrapbooker, and put her talents to use making the frame. It's so cute, and I can't wait to put a picture of him in it.

Here's his changing station is all set up and ready for him. We already had the wipe warmer, and we were able to buy the rest of this with gift cards last weekend.

Here's a shot of all the clothes that Miller has hanging up in his closet. Keep in mind this doesn't even touch all the clothes he actually has. These are just the hang up clothes.

I can't remember if I posted this picture already or not. John hung up Miller's name a few weeks ago, but we also set up his camera.

This is just too cute to me. The shelf is something John made in high school, and I just think his little hats are precious hanging up on it. The picture frame is from John's cousin Rachel, again, I can't wait to put an actual picture of Miller in it. The plaque was a gift from John's mom.

Here's John putting together the bouncer. It was a gift from all of the wonderful hostesses from the Allison shower a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, it'll be months before Miller is able to use it, but it'll be ready for him when he's ready for it.

Thankfully, I've got no major plans for this weekend. So, I'm going to relax, clean up the house a bit, and just do some things to get ready for Miller. John's going to be helping a co-worker move tomorrow. Then, on Sunday, we're having Father's Day dinner at my parents' house. Don't worry, I'll make sure to post John's Father's Day gift - I just don't want to ruin the surprise. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

36 week doctor's appointment and other random fun

Things are moving right along, and people are just having babies all around me. Within the past week, two people I know have had their baby girls, one who had the same due date as my original (June 24th) due date and the other who was actually due after me. I know one more who is due within a week, so it won't be too long for her either. Yea! Miller is still holding in there, and he seems to be pretty much right on course. Here's our stats from today:
Blood pressure: 100/70 I'm glad that top number went down. I wonder if that being so high had anything to do with the two migraines I've had recently.
Dialated: 0 cm
Effacement: 30% Woo hoo! We've got some change.
Miller's position: Head down, and he's 6lbs, 5 oz.

When the doctor measured my belly, he was measuring a little large, so they went ahead and had me do another ultrasound. We don't have any pictures because by this time, he's gotten so big that it's hard to get any good pictures. Plus, he got ticked off, and started throwing his head back and kicking all over the place. Again, the ultrasound technician said how much he was wiggling around. So far, every single time we've been told how much of a mover he is. Lord help us once he's here.

Also, I haven't updated this is a long time, but here's the most recent link Audra put up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icrDMXQptQs I'm really late putting that up, considering he changes into a watermelon on Sunday. This past month though, he's been a honeydew. I have to warn you, this video is not for the faint of heart. So, you've been warned.

I'm happy to say that we don't have plans for this weekend. I'm so glad. That way I can knock out the thank you notes, finish putting everything up, and exchange what we need to. Plus, I may find some time in there to relax as well. Yea! I think I have about half of my thank you notes done, but I hang on to all of them until I can mail them at the same time because it bothers me not to mail them out together. I might have to break down and mail out a bunch though, especially since some addresses will be changing soon.

25 more days! That's just crazy. I've got so much to do! So exciting!

First game with Miller

From John:
Last night I got play with Miller for the very first time! I think that is a quite the accomplishment since he is still in Michelle's belly. Last night, as we were laying in bed, Miller was kicking up a storm. Sometimes, when he is active like this, you can push on Michelle's belly and he will somewhat respond, so last night as he was kicking, I started talking to him, and gently tapped on Michelle's belly. To my surprise, he kicked back at that exact spot I tapped. So, I tapped again and he responded with a few more kicks in the exact same spot. Me tapping and him kicking back must have gone on at least ten times. Each time I tapped, Miller responded back. It was really amazing to have that much interaction with him before he is even born. I think I won the game though, cuz he eventually quit responding to me. Either that or I got boring to him, which could be case too.

Oh my goodness...again!

Yesterday, we had our final shower. Yes, I'm sad to see them done, but I don't know where else we would put everything. As it is, half of our house is covered with partially open baby things. This shower was thrown by John's aunt and cousins and cousin-in-law at his grandmother's house. They did such a great job. John's cousin Rachel had warned me beforehand that we would be getting a lot of stuff, so be prepared to take it home. Thankfully, Mimi and Paw-paw just bought a new Yukon. As it was, that car was stuffed to the gills.

Here's the food. It was so good, and Tess made my absolute favorite...chocolate truffles. Yumm! Plus, Rachel made a fruit pizza...because I guilted her into it. She's such a sweetheart!

Here's a picture of our diaper cake. A&M themed, of course. :-)

For some reason, John and I have relatively few pictures together while I've been pregnant, so I was glad to get this one at the shower. I'm 35 weeks, 6 days pregnant here.

After chowing down on the wonderful food, we played a few games and opened gifts. Here's a cute outfit that John's mom got for us. His first jersey!

Here Marissa helped me open one of our car seats from John's siblings and their spouses. She loved helping me open the bigger gifts, and she was so good at it!

This is a quilt that John's grandmother's brother-in-law makes. Each square has a distinct meaning, and it'll be sure to be centerpiece in Miller's room!

Here's a picture of all the grandmother's, great-grandmother's and me. Four generations in all, if you count Miller. The top row is John's mom, Chris, and my mom, Valerie. On the front row is my Mimi, me, and John's Grandma Allison.

Finally, here's a picture of John and I holding our cake. It was so scrumptious! John was licking the icing off the box on the way home, he loved it so much.

Here's our dining room again. I know it pretty much looks like it did last week, but I promise we did have it cleared off until this shower. Thankfully, I can focus on getting all of this washed and put away now that we're all done with baby showers.

Once we got home, I started putting things away and rested for a little while. John decided to take this chance to give Doobie a bath. He gets so hot outside this time of year, and we like to let him in during the evenings. He was pretty stinky, so John decided to give him a bath in the whirlpool tub. Doobie enjoys the attention, but I think he would have preferred to be inside without having to go through the bath.

Lexi was checking things out...from a distance. She didn't want to end up getting a bath too.

OK, that pretty much brings us all up to the minute. I've got a stack of thank you notes to write, since John and I are so blessed to have so many friends and family that love us. We're so lucky that we've gotten almost everything that we'll need to welcome Miller into the world. Everything that we still need can be purchased with the gift cards we've gotten. We're both so grateful and so amazed. Thank you to all of our friends and family! I don't know how we would have been able to do it without you. The next month will be a whirlwind, I'm sure, but I love working on all this, and John's been so good about helping out whenever I ask him.