It's All Baby Related

We are now about 2 weeks away from our due date! As the due date gets closer and I get bigger, the time doesn’t seem to be going by as quickly! We had another appointment with the midwife this week. We’re thankful that Micah’s heartbeat is still strong and that his head is down and apparently pretty far down. (For those of you who are interested and know about the “stations”, he’s at -1.) After last week’s appointment we worked on getting the car seat in the car, and I finished my last project in the baby’s room, (painting the “Micah” letters). Also, on Tuesday nights we’ve been attending our childbirth classes. We have had 4 classes so far, with 2 more left. At first I wasn’t too sure what to think about them, wondering if they were really going to be helpful. However, I am very thankful that we have been going to these. Personally I like to be well-informed, and I think our instructor has done a good job of preparing us for the different stages of labor, and teaching us how to get through each stage even if unexpected difficulties arise.

Also, Tim made a video for the 3rd trimester. We tried to take a picture every day of the growing belly (although we weren't always successful in getting that daily picture taken). Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Tim!

Happy birthday, Tim! Yesterday we celebrated Tim’s 29^th birthday. The birthday celebration really started on Sunday when we went out to Red Lobster after church for lunch. They were having a special….all-you- can-eat shrimp, which is Tim’s favorite! We started our day yesterday with a special birthday breakfast before Tim headed off to work. Since our childbirth class was cancelled Tuesday night, we had it rescheduled for last night. It was so nice that Tim was able to come home at 5:00 instead of his usual 10:00, so we could have dinner together. Also, instead of having a traditional birthday cake, Tim’s request was cupcakes. Now you may be thinking why anyone would want cupcakes instead of a regular cake. But these were Bavarian cream filled cupcakes with chocolate frosting…very yummy! I’m so thankful for Tim, and the encouragement and blessing that he has been to me. He’s the best husband ever! Happy birthday, Tim!

As the baby turns

Today is officially 34 weeks into this pregnancy. It’s amazing how quickly the time is going! I am now going for check-ups every 2 weeks. A couple weeks ago, I started feeling minor twinges of pain lower down, and it felt different. After doing research online I thought that maybe Micah had turned head down. And yup! This was confirmed by my midwife at my last appointment. She told me that although it may cause more discomfort now, it’s definitely better long-term that he’s already head down. My next appointment will be tomorrow and we will begin our childbirth classes on Tuesday (much to Tim’s joy), so stay tuned for another update.

One thing that we just bought last week for Micah was our stroller! We didn’t put one on our baby registry since we wanted to get a certain kind (thanks to Amanda and G), which was only available online. After doing some research, I was able to find this Phil and Ted’s stroller online at Target. This was perfect because not only were we able to use our Target gift cards to cover some of it, but they also had a special short time offer for free shipping! We were very excited when we got it delivered to our apartment!

Also, Tim had blood work and x-rays this past week and he is still cancer free! We are thankful for God’s goodness.

Yummy Goodness

Before we bring you up to date, we had a couple of old news stories that were just too fun to pass up. First, back on July 30^th, we found out via a friend on facebook that it was Cheesecake Factory’s 30^th anniversary and they were offering $1.50 cheesecake slices. Well, that news was just too good to pass up. So, Kristen and I decided to be a little spontaneous and go out to lunch to indulge our sweet tooth. After enjoying an awesome burrito, we got a slice of Turtle Cheesecake and White Chocolate Raspberry. Can you say heaven on earth?

Speaking of, a couple of weeks ago we took a trip to Dunkin Donuts on Sunday morning before church. (No, we don’t often go running around to indulge in junk food, but Kristen had been craving donuts for a while. And since we had been dog-sitting at someone’s house that weekend, it was on the way to church—so we yielded to temptation.) I don’t know if you’ve ever faced the daunting task of staring at piles of mouth-watering sugary-coated goodness, knowing you can pick just one—well, let’s just say it’s not a choice one should rush in to. After careful deliberation, we both decided on the chocolate-covered Boston Cream-filled donut. After receiving our selection, we headed to a table, opened the bag and to our surprise found a third donut, a powdered sugar Bavarian Crème in the bag. When we went back to inform the cashier, she told us it was fine. (Perhaps they noticed that my wife was eating for two anyway.) Happiness is ordering two donuts and finding three. It’s the little things…

Of Bellies and Baby Rooms

It’s Bigger. It’s Larger. It’s Wider.

At least that’s the way the baby room looks now that Kristen has been able to organize a lot of the clothes and accessories we had strewn all over the floor. The crib, as you can see, is mostly up. And we’re excited about how well things are coming along.

Kristen is looking as cute as ever as she’s now entering the third trimester. I can’t believe she’s already in the last stage of her pregnancy! Parenthood is only a few months away.

And now, a note from Kristen:

Lately I’ve been going to garage sales on Saturday mornings while Tim is at work. I’ve been looking for baby stuff…not so much for baby clothes, since we have so much...but other stuff. A couple weeks ago I went to one garage sale where this lady had a heaping table full of baby boy clothes from 0-6 months (she was addicted to buying baby clothes for her son, she admitted to me.) I didn’t want to buy too many clothes, but they were really cute and in really good condition! As I went to pay for my items, I was really excited to find out that everything here only cost me $1.50!! I haven’t found any more sweet deals since then, but I’m still on the look-out.

Blueberries!

6:25 AM is no time for an alarm to be going off, especially when it was a late night of reading. But, it's a little easier to get up when you're going on an early morning date to Pungo Farms to pick blueberries! And we had a great time! Look at all those wonderful blueberries. We picked nearly 12 pounds of them. And as I sit here typing, I'm smelling blueberry pancakes cooking in the kitchen. Oh yeah! We're getting ready to enjoy the fruits of our labor. And there's already talk of blueberry muffins, blueberry coffeecake, blueberry crisp...I love being married to a good cook. :)

Gotta go, pancakes are calling.

(Hope those who read the previous blog enjoyed clicking on the links. I had a little too much fun putting them in.)

Destination Michigan

Kristen and I recently drove home to Michigan to spend time with the family, see friends, and enjoy some beautiful Michigan summer weather. While we were there we, well, relaxed. Hey, it’s a vacation, right? We spent our first week with Kristen’s family in the Lower Peninsula town of Mesick. While we were there we gave those Apples to Apples cards a workout. Some highlights of the trip while with Kristen’s family were visiting Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes near Traverse City and enjoying Moomers ice cream on the way back.

Then it was up to the UP with my family. We enjoyed Fourth of July parades, fireworks, cookouts (Kristen especially got excited about the brats). We gave the Apples to Apples cards another good workout, and had a relaxing and enjoyable time with family and friends. Mom and Dad Ahtila even came up to the UP for a couple of days and enjoyed pasties with us at Presque Isle Park in Marquette. It was fantastic. Can’t wait to do it again sometime!