Bonus: older photos

Here are a few that Kayla posted when she visited me and I was only 3 months. This is about the earliest I have. Never thought I'd feel that I looked so skinny then...!

The Baby Shower

Well, it's over! Some 30 or so people in our house with great food, silly games, top-notch gifts and some really amusing gag gifts.
Josh didn't figure out the surprise man-shower the entire time. The shower was at 1pm and he didn't realize that he was having a party and getting some attention until noon! We made biscuits and gravy in the morning for everyone who was setting up, and then the three of us just sat back and got spoiled. Uncle Alex tried out our video and taped the shower - we'll have to look at that soon, and maybe post some clips if there are some good ones (an hour or two of material to sort through). Meanwhile, I recommend visiting Kayla Lehto's Facebook page for shower photos, nobody else has posted any yet - I love hers, there are some good ones of her visiting us too. I'll post just a few shots of hers here and everyone can see some more 7 month belly pics. I'll hold off on posting shower photos until some more are posted to other people's Facebook accounts.
Alex has become even more active and we can see pointy limbs scraping and wiggling and making my belly move around. He doesn't move much when I'm talking, laughing or moving, but the moment I sit down and relax, he celebrates. I don't mind, since it doesn't keep me awake. He's around 3 pounds now, which is pretty nuts since that means he has to double or triple in size over the next 9 weeks! We have tons of stuff to unpack, wash and store/display in his room, so that should keep us busy. We've just got a few things to buy and a load of clothes to inherit from the cousins.
Thanks again to everyone who helped, especially Heather, Jennifer and my mom!

New Pics for March - Month 7 activity

Here are some pics taken two weeks ago at the start of Month 7 by Heather - also includes a couple shots of me and our nephew Isaac who just turned 6 months old last week!!!
Lots of visitors this week, we've been having fun and when I'm talking or moving, Alex likes to stay very still and listen and feel what's happening. When we play board games with friends or go out to the movies, he's pretty still unless (like seeing Alice in Wonderland at the IMAX) the sound is extra loud, then he dances around quite a bit. When I finally sit still, he jumps around and flips over - he moved so much yesterday that Daddy, Grandma, and uncle Alex and even Louise got to feel him really strongly and even see my belly morphing into different shapes! I've definitely popped, it seems my belly looks the same for a few weeks and then overnight it gets bigger every once in a while.
Daddy's being a really great coach and is a little bit of a leader in our baby class, which is a new role for him. I'm so proud of him and don't know what I'd do without him. Grandma Michele came with us to class last night and is preparing to be the assistant coach on the Big Day - of course, we'd be lost without both of the coaches! And a big THANK YOU to Tabitha who is my driving volunteer in case I go into labor at work, which is almost an hour away from home and the hospital. Happy St. Patty's day, everyone, and especially happy Spring!

Shower's coming up

The baby shower is a week from Saturday and we're excited! I know that Heather and Jennifer have worked hard to prep everything so poor Alex can arrive with some equipment ready for him and so we ladies can have a little fun.
By all means, if I forgot you, please blame pregnancy brain and invite your lovely self over to our house at 553 Kendall Drive, Hastings, MN 55033 on Saturday afternoon, March 20! Very excited to see those of you arriving from out of town over the course of the next week and a half. Alex is quite healthy, active and large so hopefully he'll do some acrobatics when everyone can see!!!

Welcome to 3rd Trimester!

Only a few more months to go as this marks the first day of Month 7! People say, "Hasn't the time gone quickly?" to which my immediate reaction is, "Are you nuts?" Seriously, this has been the longest six months of my life. But, I'm not saying it was a bad 6 months - just long! Actually, it's been great and Alex is pretty much break dancing inside there every day. We're very busy with Bradley class and exercises, and the shower is this month so we're preparing for him every day. Almost have the baby room totally cleaned out (books galore in the closet) so this is it - we're going to be ready no matter what! Hard to believe he's only around 2 lbs and that he'll probably triple or quadruple before this is over... he's not really keeping me up at night, though. In fact, I feel more energetic than usual, but more forgetful too! This morning I didn't put any tea leaves in the teapot, I forgot to make dinner on a school night, and I forgot all my school stuff even though I thought all morning how excited I was to finally get my homework done at 11pm last night... but somehow I'm doing great at work, so go figure. Spring fever for all three of us so we've started to take long walks in the 40 degree sunshine!
We got a video camera, by the way, so we can post clips on here and enjoy recording every little moment. May post some samples on here of our cute pets.