37 Weeks

I’ve been told baby could come any day now even though my due date is still 3 weeks away. I really hope it’s sooner rather than later because I can barely move anymore. I am swelling pretty bad all over and was instructed to keep my feet elevated. Everything is still looking normal and good, no complications so far.

Our childbirth class is over and things are moving along. I just ordered diapers since I am doing cloth which will be nice with my new handy dandy diaper sprayer. I am really excited to try this. My enthusiasm will probably fade once I change 10-12 diapers a day and do lots of laundry, but I will try to stay optimistic :) I think we are ready as much as we can be for Roo’s arrival, materialistic speaking that is. We have most of the important baby gear and a short list for both boy and girl names. The hard part is picking the “perfect” name off that list.

Please pray for a safe delivery and a healthy baby in the coming few weeks. Todd will most likely be the one keeping you posted by email or Facebook when the time comes.

So Long Cheesecake

My little Cheesecake had to be put to sleep this afternoon. She became ill very suddenly this week and I knew it was time to say goodbye. My good friend Jessica offered to take her to the vet for me for which I was grateful. I still have Mosey who is going to be quite lonely without her buddy. I am going to have to try a little harder to give her more attention.

This is my favorite picture of Cheesecake from 2009 when her & Mosey came to live with us.

Mouse Trap

Not to confuse you with the game, this is the real thing. We had a mouse living in our house for who knows how long. We heard chewing under the cabinets in our kitchen last week and finally saw the mouse one evening (under the dishwasher). Further inspection revealed the mouse had visited other parts of the house.

Todd, after getting a few ideas online, created an ingenious live trap to catch the little critter. It involved peanut butter, a cardboard box, a wooden ramp, a coat hanger and some water bottles.

Well, it worked and I found the little guy sitting in peanut butter staring up at me at 4am (I was up for a snack too). I transferred him to another container complete with fabric scraps, cheese, oatmeal and water. I have a soft spot for rodents you know.

Later that morning I found the perfect place to set him free, the field behind Ed & Julie’s house! I know they enjoy having a mouse or two in their house so it worked out. Ha, actually I took him to the park (across the river from the Balls) and let him go. He leapt out of the box like no tomorrow and hid under some leaves.

Good riddance (peanut butter covered) Mickey!

The mouse runs up the ramp into the water bottle tube to get the peanut butter. Once at the end, the off balance tips the tube up so the mouse cannot get out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We woke up to a couple inches of snow this morning! It is beautiful and still going strong. Hopefully we will be able to make it to our friend’s home this afternoon for a yummy feast.

Thank you Lord for a warm house and a husband who works hard to pay those bills!

 

32 Weeks

I’m getting closer. Baby is doing well. My doctor believes Roo’s head has moved down which is why I can breathe a little easier these days. Only two more sessions to go in our childbirth class then we are done. Hopefully we’ll remember some of the things we were taught.

Each week that passes I am getting more and more ready to meet our little baby. I am excited to hold Roo…boy or girl…can’t wait to find out.

I couldn’t decide between my two outfits, so you get two similar pictures that show my growing belly :)

Roo’s Room

I am not yet done with the room, but thought I would show you what I do have so far. I still need to put pictures & other stuff on the walls, find curtains,  and buy a chair.

1) I chose the crib sheet set because it was colorful and somewhat gender neutral. It came with another sheet with the animal print (same as comforter) and a bed skirt with stripes.

2) The dresser is my old childhood dresser which I painted white, it used to be black and in our bedroom. We got new stuff from IKEA. Another post perhaps :)

3) The adorable & silly sock monster was made by my dear sister-in-law Cherise. He makes me smile every time I walk into the room.

4) The kangaroo photo is a tribute to our little Roo, taken at the Australia Zoo not too long ago.

5) The rippled knit throw is something I made a couple years ago, who knew it would blend with the current color theme.

6) The Space Needle print is what Cherise and I both bought for our baby rooms, they were fun and colorful and only $2.

7-9) The last pictures are of the beautiful quilt my Mom hand made. She even put a little kangaroo on the back.

   

Last Day

Oops, I almost forgot to post pictures of our last day together. We walked to our local coffee shop then continued towards Riverside Park. Holden had a lot of fun on the swings as you can see from these photos. He also had a very strong grip on the monkey bars. Matt would let go and Holden could hang there for a few moments, strong little guy (Holden loved it). Todd got some cute pictures of Holden from the top of the bars.

It’s always difficult to say goodbye at the end of a fun visit and I especially had a hard time once at the airport. Even through the sadness I am thankful for the time we had together and look forward to future visits when the cousins get to play :)

 

 

Seattle

After spending Wednesday touring Todd’s office and downtown Bellingham we made a day trip to Seattle on Thursday. Once again it was just the four of us, sans Todd, after we dropped him off at the University of Washington to work for Logos at the university’s career fair.

We did most of the touristy things we could in Seattle on a rainy day. We first visited the Space Needle and its gift shop then headed to Pike Place to walk around. Cherise and I bought matching $2 art prints to put in each of our baby’s rooms. I’ll have a picture of it when I photograph Roo’s room.

We also saw the gum wall, had lunch at a Russian cafe and then of course visited the famous first Starbucks.

 

 

Vancouver

The five of us returned Sunday evening then spent all day Monday relaxing and catching up on laundry. Tuesday the four of us, sans Todd (work), drove to Vancouver, B.C. for the day. We had a great time in the rain. Got lost a couple times but finally found our way. Had lunch at a good Thai place then grabbed coffee to go.

We spent a couple hours walking and driving around Stanley Park. Visited the Beluga whales at the back entrance of the aquarium. The whales were being played with/fed by their handlers so we got a great view of them from behind the glass. I think Holden enjoyed watching them too.

We then parked downtown and walked towards Canada Place to get some city shots before dark. Holden also needed his picture next to a Canadian flag for his first time there.