36 weeks brings a Midwife Appointment, a Baby Shower, and an Empathy Belly!

To kick off week 36 I had my weekly appointment with our midwife. Everything is looking fantastic :) I had my strep B test, and will get those results back this week. Baby boy is head down and has dropped (THANK GOD I CAN BREATH AGAIN). I am not dilated or effaced at all, and Baby's heart beat is 140. It looks like I will be pregnant for at least a week longer.

Then I went into work for my awesome team to throw me a baby shower! It was such a great afternoon getting even the guys involved in baby talk and diaper decorating :)

I got some awesome gifts, and my management team gave us a gift card to get the last big item that we need from our registry before baby gets here!

Thank you again to everyone who came and who made it special!

Oh and outside of gifts my AMAZING supervisor Carolyn got me a snow cone machine! John was a trooper and made snow cones for the shower... if he ever doesn't make it as a caseworker the Snow Shack would be lucky to have him ;)

I only had 2... well 3, but the 3rd one was small ;)



My sweet friend Nicole has been such a blessing of support through my whole pregnancy, and she was the one to take charge of planning the shower. Her creativity shined in the cute decor and fun food and games

That evening was our 4th Birthing class! It was the best class so far, because this week Michael got the pleasure of being pregnant too :) Our teacher wrapped his chest in a tight band to make it hard to breath, then put a heated belly with an attachment to squish his bladder on him. Then he got to pick things up, lay down then get back up, and other fun pregnancy trials :)

I ended the day cuddled up watching the lighting storm (which is one of my favorite things)

 with my baby daddy! It really was a wonderful day!

 I am glad everything is staying so happy through this pregnancy I feel very blessed!

Baby Shower Family Lunch

My sweet mother and sister in law took us to lunch today for some of Mike's family to spoil Baby Reece! They picked my favorite restaurant which alone would have made my day, but they also got us so much stuff that we needed I can't tell you how happy I am!  

  Outside of all the sweet things Mike's sister Mandi, cousin Corri, and our friend Erin gave Mike's mom and grandma made Baby lots of spit cloths, swaddle blankets, and an amazing Teddy Bear quilt!

We had a great afternoon catching up, and I think the kids like opening presents for their brother just as much as they do for themselves! :)

Just Me and My Bump Pictures

I wanted some pictures captured of just me and my bump.

 As much as there are days that I just feel huge and uncomfortable this pregnancy is one of the most amazing times of my life, it is such a beautiful gift! 

I am so very glad that I asked Becky Barry to take my pictures she never fails to make a girl feel beautiful! 

A picture to represent how big I feel ;)
The rest are of how gorgeous my bump really is!

Family Maternity Pictures - 2

A few weeks ago we had summer family pictures done

 Most of them were done for the babies nursery, and some just to capture our family in this amazing time

 We had them done by Rebecca Anne Photography, Becky did a great job! 

Here are some of my favorites :)

Thing 1

Thing 2

Picture for Big Brother Frame for the Nursery

Our almost family of 5

Baby Reece's amazing siblings
Look how much they have grown from the year they became sister and brother 

we have a similar picture Becky took when the kids were 3!
This is going in the Nursery :)

Baby Reece's 1st pair of shoes!
This is going in the Nursery :)

Picture for Big Sister Frame in the Nursery 

Just me and my boy

Me reading "You are all my favorites" to my all 3 of my babies!
This is going in the Nursery 

My very sexy baby daddy 

This was the pose from our wedding invitation
This is how it all started :)

Our song is "God Blessed the Broken Road"
The day of our wedding Becky captured this same moment 

Daddy and his baby boy! 

There is so much to the biblical truth!
Baby Reece is the answer to so many prayers!!
This is going in his Nursery

Me, the man I love, and our baby boy!
One of those life doesn't get better than this pictures for me :)

Peacefully in love with a boy I have never met 

Here is the link to the pictures of Just Me and My Bump

35 Weeks!!!!

I had my 35 week appointment with my midwife this morning, and from now on I will go every week! Baby is measuring at exactly 35 weeks ,and his heartbeat is strong at 140. They tested my blood again for anemia to check my iron, and I will find out later this week how that is. I am probably still anemic, but she wants to make it is not getting any worse seeing it was very low when they put me on the iron supplements. She also started me on meds that I have to take because of a medical condition pre-pregnancy this week, so that will come with some side effects… yay. All in all everything is looking perfect in the pregnancy world. I have all the normal highs, excitement, discomforts, and worries!

We had our 3rd birthing (Lamaze) class last night and it is wonderful. We learned a lot about the actual labor process which gave Mike and I a lot to talk about to decide what we want the day we meet our boy! Then we learned lots of comforts and massage techniques for daddy to use to help me through the next few weeks, labor, and post pardon. Mike is one of the most comforting people naturally, but it was great to have the opportunity at each station to talk about what helped, and what I didn’t like.

This last weekend I went into holy cow I am having a baby in a few weeks, and have so much to do before he is born mode!! It not that I think he is going to be born licking the floor boards, but I want everything clean! We deep cleaned the house and garage. I cleaned out all the cabinets, stalked the guestroom and bathroom for anyone who visits, caught up on any laundry like blankets and towels that get put off, started packing our hospital bags (I will post about these separately), and mostly finished the nursery (I will post about these separately) & baby gear set up!

Here is our Swing/ bouncy for downstairs
and
Playpen/Basinet for next to our bed when his is brand new

Mike being the great husband he is got me a Groupon for someone else to come in and deep clean the bathrooms, kitchen, and dust the whole house :)
I have 2 baby showers this coming week, and then I think I will be ready for whenever Baby Reece is ready to make his entrance into this world! Jenna was born at 35 weeks, so this is officially the longest I have been pregnant before! That is almost terrifying to think about. I can’t believe how fast this is going! Please keep me and baby boy in your prayers these coming weeks... oh and Mike who gets to deal with nesting and constant calming my worries ;)

34 week Bump Update

How far along? 34 weeks and 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: 22.4 lbs

Maternity clothes: I have officially grown out of my 1st maternity clothes...Not everything mind you, but there are a few things that no longer cover the bump. So to avoid looking like baby huey I had to add to my collection :) 

Stretch marks: They are finally here! The red dot has stretched into a line. That being said the ones that have started are under my belly button which means I can't even see them, so I am not to hurt about it :) 

Sleep: Sleeping is good these days. I haven't had anymore middle of the night hunger or leg cramps which makes me so happy. The only problem is still the getting comfortable to fall asleep, but at this point Mike has become a master at making this pregnant mama relax :)

Best moment this week: It has been more good times for the Reece Family! Summer is moving along and we are having a great time! I have a day now and then that I am just sleepy or not feeling great, but nothing bad! Mike and I have started our Birthing and Lamaze classes and I am thoroughly enjoying them!Everything is just coming together, and God is blessing us daily!

 Miss Anything: Creativity... it is gone... like I will think oh I should do something creative with this, and then draw blank. I am hoping it comes back as I start my "nesting stage", but it is not looking like it will. 

Movement: Oh my goodness yes! I thought that it would slow down as he ran out of room, but he is strong! Kade got to feel him kick for the 1st time while we were on our trip which he totally freaked out about (so made my day)! 
                                     

Food cravings: Just food... all the time! I can't eat a lot in one sitting these days, so I just eat all day! I still want snow cones daily, but that is mostly because I am so hot it is nuts!!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Just if I don't eat or eat too much

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks are officially my least favorite thing in the world!  

Belly Button in or out: Flat with the bump still unless baby Reece gets too excited and pushes it out 

Wedding ring on or off: On and still fitting great

Happy or Moody most of the time: I am thinking pregnancy is good for my mood, because I have never felt to euphoric! I have bad times, but they seem way less significant when I am literally growing my dream come true! Mike and I have been so great and the kids are loving the idea of their new baby. I just wouldn't change anything right now! 

Looking forward to: Friday Night with my man, my next baby showers are coming up, finishing the nursery, and well everything the next few weeks will bring! 

Happy 4th of July Weekend

We just got back from a fantastic trip to see our family in Utah for the 4th of July weekend!

We decided seeing I am almost to the point that traveling is not safe, and soon we will have a new little man taking up our time and affection that we should get away with Thing 1 and Thing 2 one last time this summer!

We left Wednesday afternoon and traveled through the night. I wasn't sure how I would do traveling in my new pear shaped body, but it was actually a quick comfortable drive! I always look forward to these trips, because it is 4+ hours of talking without interruption for me and my man :) 

We stayed at a Hilton near my in laws seeing they are in the middle of moving and we stay free in Hiltons aways :) Thursday morning the kids got to play at the pool while Mike helped me get my (very far away from reach) toes painted! 

That night we got to see Mike's older brother and sister and all of their adorable kids! 

The kids had a blast playing with their cousins, exploring the foothills, and roasting marshmallows :)

For the 4th Grandpa took the kids to an Independence Day Celebration in the morning where they played on jump houses and Jenna even jumped from a 30 foot drop onto a giant pillow (she was bribed with a $1)

Then we met up with Mike's younger sister Toad and her boyfriend Jake for Fireworks in the park!  

To make sure all the grandkids were equally spoiled Scott bought Baby Reece a Snow Cone each day :)

On Saturday we spent the day at Cowabunga Water Park! 

My brave kids went on all the slides! 

It was a great way to spend a sunny day!

Yes they even had snow cones at the water park ;)

Our Family of almost 5 at the Waterpark! 

It was such a blast! 

That evening we had an amazing dinner made by Grandma Angie while we watched the UFC fights!

It was a perfect way to end the busy weekend! 

We headed home after one more breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa on Sunday. The kids made the backseat into a fort, and I got some more time to talk to my man! We came home to lots of presents for baby Reece, but I will post about them separately :)

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend as much as we did!