8 1/2 months/34 weeks Belly pics

Once again I find myself saying, "I can't believe I'm already...." 8 1/2 months! I had my 33 week appointment last week and we officially scheduled our c-section for Thursday, March 15th at 1pm. I'm excited that it's at that time of day because then we can still get up and do our regular morning routine with Ryder. And believe me, Ryder likes his morning routine (does anyone else have trouble with their child getting dressed in the morning??? It's literally the worst part of the day for him. The.end.of.the.world. every single day, seriously). Anyways, so 5 weeks from tomorrow is the big day!! Below are some updated belly pictures.

8.5 months with Ryder

8.5 months this time (fairly big, huh??)

8.5 month bare belly when I was pregnant with Ryder

8.5 months bare belly this time around

Well there you have it...big belly in your face! Enjoy the rest of the week and weekend everyone.

Remembering Grandma Cheris

Heaven gained another angel yesterday as Grandma Cheris received "her wings" as the hospice nurse said. It was a long, tough road to the end for Cheris, but even as her dementia took over she still always seemed to make us laugh with her quirky sense of humor :) After numerous health issues over many months, she transitioned over to hospice care last week and finally passed away comfortably yesterday. I was glad Joe and I got to say good bye to her last Sunday afternoon, but I will choose to remember her not like I saw her on Sunday. I will remember her like this:

Here is a picture of her meeting Ryder for the first time in the hospital.

Here is Grandma Cheris with us at Ryder's Baptism

And here is Grandma Cheris enjoying herself last October on her 85th birthday.

You know, because of my work I see people pass away all the time as death is part of the job. But you can't make it personal at work otherwise you would never be able to do your job. Because of this (and the fact that I have been fortunate enough to not have had to deal with death in my own family yet), I had gone into Sunday thinking I would be strong/not cry when I saw Cheris. But when I saw Cheris on Sunday, I was shocked at how fast she changed and how sad it was. I started to think about how she was at the moment compared to how I remembered her being. And what really got me was thinking that she is Paul's mom, and Joe's grandma and it made me think of how hard it must be for them. Needless to say, it was much harder to see her like that than I originally thought. But again, I think the most important thing Joe and I talked about is that you have to remember is that she lived a long life and she's in a better place now. We will remember the good times and not the bad. Rest in peace, Grandma Cheris!

8 months/32 weeks Belly picture

This week brings us to a whopping 8 months! I'm naughty and decided I didn't want to go to too many OB appts (who has time for that many trips..really!??) so rather than having a 32, 34, and 36 week appt---I took the liberty of scheduling just a 33 and a 36 week appointment. So I don't have any updates as far as appointment stuff goes.

Below is a picture of me at 32 weeks/8 months pregnant with Ryder.

And this one below is me pregnant this time around.
Before we took the picture tonight, Joe said (in a rather sarcastic tone I might add!) "are you wearing the same outfit as last time??!!" As you can see by these pictures, I'm not. Normally I would totally care because I want it to be as similar as possible, but I was just too tired to care today! I know, I know...many of you are very upset. But don't worry, I'll make sure to do it "right" the next time ;)

OHHHH, and how could I forget something as fun as this!???? Joe and I are going on a DATE (yep...that's right, a DATE) on Saturday, thanks to our awesome Christmas gift from Logan and Amy. They gave us a gift card to Wild Fire in Eden Prairie and are also going to babysit Ryder too! Joe and I tried to remember the last time we had a date, and it was back on our anniversary in the beginning of October (sad). And Ryder was really sick, so we spent most of the time worrying about him and came home early. So you can bet we're pretty dang excited to go on a date! Enjoy your weekends everyone :)

7 1/2 months

Today I had my 30 week appointment. Things are still going well. I'm measuring right where I should be, her heart rate is nice and strong, and I'm excited because my next appointment I get to officially schedule my c-section!! Below is a picture of me at 30 weeks/ 7.5 months when I was pregnant with Ryder.

And here is me pregnant at 30 weeks this time. Again, sticking out slightly more than last time....or a lot more. Whatever.

My last appointment I found out that I had been fairly naughty over the Holiday season because I had gained 6 lbs in four weeks. Oops. So I was excited when I had this appointment (yeah yeah, it was only 2 weeks later...so what) and I had lost half a pound. Granted, I do understand that it is so minuscule that it could totally be attributed to dehydration or even a good bathroom stint...but again...I'll take it!! So to celebrate, I had Joe stop at Byerly's and get me a cupcake with excessive frosting. It's hard to tell from this picture, but it's a big old penguin on top :) Couldn't have made me happier!

Random post

This weekend was a fun and relaxing weekend. On Friday we helped celebrate Natalie and Tony's wedding (Natalie is Joe's cousin). It was fun to see family we hadn't seen in awhile and enjoy a night out. Ryder graced everyone with his presence briefly before my parents picked him up from the reception. He was a tad overstimulated from all the socializing and was NOT thrilled about leaving Mommy and Daddy, but he had a fun sleepover with Grandpa Donn and Grandma Sharol. Of course, as Joe puts it so well....Ryder is probably the only baby to hold grudges because Saturday when we picked him up he was very excited to see us at first, but the whole rest of the day you could just tell he was ticked at us. I'm totally not kidding! If you've spent enough time around Ryder, you know he has quite the stubborn personality and even better facial expressions. He pretty much wears his heart on his sleeve and Joe and I found it very easy to see he was annoyed at us all day. It was actually kind of amusing! He acted uninterested in anything we wanted to do, he would give us these "dirty" looks when we tried to make him laugh, like he was thinking..."please, you two do know you're on my shit-list, right??" We even tried to have a fun family night out and we met up with the Ritters at Five Guys Burgers and Fries (YUM!) and then had Freeziac afterwards....and even that didn't brighten his spirits much! Haha! Anyways, he was fine....eventually and by eventually I mean....--->Sunday morning when he woke up. Man, he's one stubborn, but funny guy! Here is a picture of Joe and me at the wedding on Friday.

The above picture is of Ryder in his cute Christmas PJs and the picture below is of Ryder giggling at the table up North on Christmas weekend, enjoying some spaghetti and meatballs :)

Anyways, this week I'm 30 weeks along. (I seriously can't believe that!) One thing that seriously annoys me already?? I now have to do OB appts every TWO weeks!! Seriously, who has time for that crap anyways?? Uhhh....updates from the appt and new belly pics to come later this week.

28 weeks/7 month belly picture

Two words: I'm huge. That's it...that's all there is to say! Hahaha. Below is a picture of me at 7 months with Ryder and then the next one is me now.... only slightly bigger, right?? Makes me worried about the next three months to come. How big can one become when they're pregnant is my question! Maybe I shouldn't ponder things like that because I might not like the answer :)

Nursery Pictures!

One of my best friend's sisters came over yesterday and did Josie Anne's nursery! Jenna's sisters, Megan and Nikki, worked hard all day long to get it done--and I think their efforts were well worth the 12+ hours of work :) It wasn't what we were expecting at all, but we absolutely LOVE it!! It's very whimsical and what I love about it is that it's girlie without being an explosion of pepto bismal pink.

A picture of the dresser/changing area

Above is a picture of the window and below is a picture of the crib (and the chandelier!!)

A pic of the bookcase and crib and tree (that Nikki hand painted)

And here's a little work of art right when you walk into the bedroom. A "J" for Josie girl :)