Week #36

Once again..a lot to catch up on. A couple weeks ago Dustin and I attended a birthing class at the hosoital where Gage will debut. It was a crash course on all things pregnancy and delivery. I knew quite a bit of the topics covered in class from various talks with friends, or from my lovely books...but I think it was a good class all the same and I know Dustin learned a thing or two : ) At one point they had the "delivery" video and I kept urging Dustin to leave the room..I kept telling him once you see this you cant undo it : ) He stayed, and to my relief the video was not near as graphic as I had anticipated. The class ended with a visual sensory excercise and I will spare you all the details...it was hysterical and horrifically awkward all at once. If you really care to know, ask me in person! It does make for a rather comical story.

This past weekend, week 35 my mother in law came into town from Dallas to help me get the nursery all put together and finalized. I had one of the best weekends of my life. It started out Friday night with dinner at one of my favorite hole in the walls with my mom and mother in law..two of my absolute favorite ladies in the whole wide world. I LOVED being surrounded by two people that I love the most and its a rare occassion (actually this was the first time) I had them both all to myself one on one and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Dustin was away that weekend on a fancy hunting trip so it was just the girls and oh so perfect. Jolene, a recent grandma to my nephew Colton, was well versed in all the latest baby gear / necessities. My mom and I were still rather clueless in this department so I was happy to have Jolene's help and input. I would like to reiterate just how truly lucky I have been through this pregnancy to have such wonderful people around me...from friends to family, and my amazing husband..I really dont know what I would have done without you and I have never felt more blessed! While Jolene was in town she kept asking what else I needed from Babies R Us..I honestly could not think of a single thing...so we made our way over there on Saturday anyways to return some clothes that were duplicates and just see if there was anything I had forgotten......$472 later I was REALLY set!!! LOL..it amazes me how much STUFF little people need. Gage's closet has now overtaken two rooms upstairs and I still foresee furture storage needs. How can one teeny tiny little person possibly need this much stuff! But they do! : ) Jolene and I cut the tags off all the clothes, blankets; and nighties and washed them in special baby soap and put them away. I never thought doing laundry would be so incredible. I enjoyed washing every tiny sock, bib, recieving blanket, every article of clothings. There were more oos and awwww's that weekend! I was truly touched by how fortunate we are to have Gage to have such incredible gifts from so many people! WE ARE LUCKY!! I have posted some pictures below of the outcome of Gage's room..its finally almost done. I am waiting on one more wall hanging to come in, and still waiting on Dustin to finish that dresser, LOL..and thats it folks..we are ready to rock and roll!

This past Wednesday we went to see the doctor for our now weekly check ups. I had been feeling "funny" for a couple days so I was anxious to have her check me. Despite some of the symptoms I had been having, Dustin and I were blown away to hear what she had to say...not only had my symptoms been spot on and my body working as it should (which still fascinates me that your body knows to do all this tuff) but I am already at 2cm!!! My Dr. advised me of a long list of items that I should not do for the next ten days..including walking, eating spicy food, stairs, etc. I am to prolong Gage's debut until week 37, and then she will let me deliver at any time. Before 37 weeks babies are considered pre-term so thats the reason she wants me to hold him in : ) I am doing the best I can and followed doctors orders. Week 37 is this coming Saturday, Jan 29th... We have our next doctor's appointment this coming Friday, I am anxious to see what she says then. At our last doctor's appointment, aside from finding out we are on our way...we also had an ultrasound that let us know Gage is already 6 pounds 4 ounces. Thats amazing to me the technology these days. The nurse tried to get a profile picure of Gage but he was being so shy and had his head buried into me. Imagine that, I have a shy boy...I think we all know which parent this trait is from : ) And it aint me! Ha! The one appendage Gage was very proud of though was his TT...that we have 4 pictures of...so thank you Gage...no pictures of your sweet face..but I have 4 solid pictures that prove to us once again you are certainly ALL boy! This will no doubt be used against you one day...I see slideshows at your wedding in the future : ) Kidding..not really!

We cant wait to meet you little Gage Matthew..time is a tickin! : ) Love you

Week #34 1/2

Goodness so much to catch up on again. I really do need to get better about this blogging stuff. So as promised in the blog below...I do have a funny story about Dustin and I.
In the beginning of my pregnancy, around week 18 or so I wasnt showing very much at all and I was pretty self conscious about this, that my tummy was smaller than what I had thought it would be at that phase. Dustin knowing how much I worried about this in the beginning must have filed this tid bit away : )

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago..week #32 and I am big as a house. Feeling all and all pretty down on myself, I was on facebook one evening and was pleasantly surprised to see that I wasnt all that big in comparison to some people I knew. I was either right on track or maybe a wee bit smaller. I was thrilled! I literally had been feeling like a whale lately so to see that this was not the case made me happy. I showed my sweet husband a picture of this particular individual who happened to be showing a wee bit more than me. I said to him, look she is bigger than I am dont you think? He promptly replied, no not really. I frowned and sat quietly next to my husband on the couch. He could tell I was upset and asked what was wrong. I quietly said, well...I guess I just dont see how big I am.... He again retorted, no you dont. Now I wanted to beat him : ) After seeing my reaction he picked up on the fact that times had changed, I was now happy to be small and he quickly back tracked...we both laugh about it now...but he was almost found himself in poopie diaper duty for 2 months : )

I am feeling..pregnant, but all in all I guess I cant complain. I am just more than ready for little Gage to be here! I am getting really excited about his debut and the opportunity to finally, finally hold him!! One thing that really helped both of us get excited was getting his nursery ready. Although we still have a long way to go...we are much closer now than we were two weeks ago and that helped me feel prepared and ready for Nugget's arrival. Dustin's mom is coming in this weekend to help us finalize all the details and get every last thing done. I PROMISE to post pictures of his nursery on Monday after I have all the last details put in place.

Dustin and I have both been REALLY busy lately with work, family in town, the holidays, and getting ready for the baby. Knowing our schedules would be hectic I asked that Dustin just paint an old dresser that I had, and place it in the baby's room. This dresser has been the baby dresser for 70 years now, and passed down through my mom's family. To say that it had 7 layers of paint may be the understatement of the year...I was in a hurry to get the nursery done and just said, what the heck..whats one more layer of paint? Dustin was having nothing to do with this. He wanted to not only strip it down to bare wood, but put all new hardware and everything on it. So that is just what he did...for the last THREE weeks now! And I'll be darned if he didnt finally get it down to the bare wood. On more than one occassion I thought if he sanded any deeper he was going to sand right through the poor dresser. He was close to being finished and I came out to see the progress. Everything was stripped with the exception of some grooves where the dresser had some detail work. There was old paint left in the grooves still and I was thrilled. I told Dustin that would look great and to please leave it so that when he distressed the dresser to make it look even older, it would have that old paint peaking through. It was at that moment, that I recieved the "you are on poopie diaper duty for a year look" and Dustin explained, through clenched jaw...that he did not just work on this dresser for 3 weeks to distress it. This dresser was going to look brand spanking new even if it was the last thing he did! I decided it was time for me to go back inside and work on my projects and leave him to his : ) LOL...He put the second coat of paint on it last night and I must admit, it looks beautiful!!! It was not the first time I found myself thinking..I am sure glad he didnt listen to me, his way did indeed turn out better. But, dont tell him I think this often!!! Thanks again babe for all your hard work. I know Peanut will love getting his diaper changed on top of your perfectly sanded, ever so smooth, refurbished dresser : )

Baby Bump Week #32!!!

More to come later...including a funny story from Dustin : )

Away in a manger no crib for a bed....nope not here folks...we have a crib!

Tis the season...for PANICING : ) We are down to crunch time folks and I am starting to stress a wee bit about our upcoming wee one! I am in full on nesting mode and getting our nursery all put together. We still have a lot to do! Much more than I would prefer...but thats when I have to slow down and remind myself, we still have 9 weeks or so. Hopefully! Last weekend our crib came in and Dustin and I decided to put it together Sunday night. This was somewhat fitting for the evening since Sunday marked two years since we had our first date. I reminded Dustin of the significance of the date and we both commented on how we couldnt think of anything else we would rather do to mark the occassion...than sit in our baby's room, eat gourmet cupcakes that I picked up to note the day, and put together our baby crib. Dustin also took note of just how lucky we were to have this "chore" on our never ending to do list. As he said, not everyone gets to do this, and some would give everything they had to be able to have a baby so we needed to stop and recognize just how lucky we are. And boy are we lucky!! I am blessed beyond words to have the priviledge of being a mother. But I cant help but be the most joyful over my marriage. I have always wanted first and foremost a happy marriage!! Followed by a home, a baby, and a successful career...in pretty much that order. The home and baby would have never been possible without Dustin by my side..not to mention it is a HAPPY home and we both know first hand just how important that is. So on a once again very sappy note..I would like to thank you again Dustin for making all my dreams come true and for being so very, very good to me. You are more than I could have ever hoped for! Being your wife and now the mother of your son is the biggest honor God has ever blessed me with! THANK YOU...and HIM!!

Not much else to report on this week...I am definitely passed the point of being uncomfortable. The back aches, the tight tummy, the swelling, feeling FAT, the whole nine yards are in full effect. Thank goodness though I am in the home stretch. The other not so pleasant side of pregnancy has been my hormones (yet another reason why Dustin is a saint..I have been a peach lately, ha ha) I am not angry or mean or anything like that...more like a class A whiner about how uncomfortable I feel...and I worry about the dumbest things all the time. I worry about liking the baby and him liking us. I worry about how I will cope with the lack of sleep...delivery pains...nursing, taking care of the baby, being a good mom, knowing what to do, adjusting to life with a wee one, and to be honest...how this baby will effect my oh so wonderful marriage. Will it bring us closer, will it be a hinge between us, will we be good parents, will we enjoy being parents. Basically, to quote my Dad..I am fearing the unknown and this is all perfectly normal. Its just so weird to me that life changes FOREVER in a matter of weeks. To all my mommy friends out there reading this, please feel free to comment and tell me I am crazy!! I could use the reassurance!

We have another doc appt on the 17th...then we start going every two weeks! That part is exciting. Thinking about Peanut's "eviction" and the day he joins the world does bring a huge smile to my face and a warm feeling to my heart. And as I look at our tree each night I see Christmases yet to come with bikes, Tonka trucks, and other toys under the tree and I cant help but feel giddy. Christmas is so magical with children! Dustin and I have also been reflecting back on our own childhood Christmas memories and that too makes us that much more anxious to welcome our little one into the world. Merry Christmas all, and Merry Christmas Gage Matthew...we'll see you in no more than 70 days....wow! : )

Oh, enjoy the pics from a few of my baby showers! : ) Thank you all again for all your generosity!

Thanksgiving, Showers, and Thanksmas....Oh My!!!!

It has been a busy last two weeks in the Kelch household!! On Nov 13th two of my friends hosted one AMAZING shower for my closest friends and family. Little Gage and I made out like bandits with strollers, monitors, jumparoos, bouncy seats, pack-n-plays, bedding, and the CUTEST clothes anyone has ever seen. We are truly, truly very spoiled!! That shower was followed by Thanksgiving at our house, and then another shower hosted by my sister in law and 2nd "grammie" Last Saturday we also celebrated "Thanksmas" with Dustin's family. The majority of Dustin's family lives out of town so it was great to get together with everyone and visit and catch up. The shower was that morning and then dinner that evening. Needless to say, maternity pants came in handy that day. If there is one thing Dustin's family can do, its cook! Holy moly, everything tasted DELICIOUS! And the shower was so incredibly cute...pics to come. Not one detail was left undone and I really appreciated all their efforts. I felt so spoiled and so loved. Dustin and I had MUCH to be thankful for these last two years, God has truly, truly blessed us.

I also started a new job...yet again. I know, I know...but this one seems to really be up my alley and I hope to be here for a very long time! Everyone in the office is fantastic, I enjoy the work, and things are good....but busy. But I am LOVING it.

Dustin and I ordered the crib yesterday, and our bedding will be in on Jan 4th..the nursery is REALLY coming together..courtesy of all our loved ones and their overwhelming generosity!!

Above is a pic of our little Peanut's bedding. I really cant thank you all enough...from co-workers, to friends, to family...the gifts were just unreal!! Thank you all soooo very much

Our next doctor's appt is on Dec 17th, and after that we start going every two weeks. Our little Peanut will be here in 11 weeks or less...where has the time gone? At our last appt the doctor said everything looked great...he is just growing, and KICKING, and getting chubbier in there. Other than that everything is developed and he weighs about 3 pounds already.

Baby Bump week #25!

Its getting BIG!! : )

Adventures in babysitting! And our last goblin free Halloween!

Has it really been 2 weeks since my last post? Oh goodness folks...you all are gold for putting up with me. Well let's see...where to start catching you all up. The nursery is DONE..well..done with the painting portion! Dustin and I finished painting the nursery last weekend. It was quite a job. We ended up short changing our paint, having to go back and get more. Got stuck in traffic for an hour due to wrecks and road closures..made it to Lowes to wait in line at the paint desk for 30 minutes. Finally made it home to finish painting after 2 hours away. Goodness...painting one room took us all day! This time last year we painted our entire downstairs in a weekend it seems. We laughed as we brought the nursery painting to an end and said baby #2...hope you like blue or white, because we're never painting again. But of course, we all know thats not true.

Last week a friend of Dustin's needed a babysitter for a couple hours. He went to high school with this girl, and I have grown quite fond of her. She lives in our area and will also be the person that keeps our precious Peanut when I go back to work from maternity leave. Anyways, she has 2 kids of her own, around ages 2 and 1. I offered to watch them for a couple hours last week and boy did Dustin and I have fun. They were great kids, they took it easy on D and I. We must have had that rookie look on our faces. We played with them for an hour after their parents left...that was all under control. I fed the baby while her older brother picked at his fish sticks. Aubri, the one year old was a great eater and I enjoyed spooning tiny bites of squash and mushed bananas into her little mouth. She was so cute. After dinner we played a few more minutes and then it was bath time. Saying that these two got a bath was well...not the most accurate statement. It was more of a dunk...with a whole lot of wiggling, laughing, and playing on their part. I think more water got on D and I...and the floors and walls of the bathroom then on the kiddos...BUT..they had a good time..and they did smell sweet afterwards. I took the baby out first and got her ready for bed, but I couldnt find a towel at first so for a half a second she is just being held in the air dripping wet, while I try and grab the nearest towel LOL. I left Dustin in the bathroom with the 2 year old boy to supervise him and finish "dunking" him. Once I got the baby changed, diaper on, and in her jammies Dustin brought big brother in. He patted him dry and we got ready to put his diaper and jammies on...when all of the suddent the cold air must have been too much for little guys and he started tinkling right there in the middle of the room. My expression must have said it all..Dustin immediately saw what was going on...scooped the lil guy back up and wrapped him in a towel...he panicked and asked me what to do...I had no clue..so he just ran to the bathroom with him and sat him down on the potty. It was hysterical. In the mean time, the little girl had quite a runny nose so I decided to get one of those suction boggie things to help clear her nasal passage. She was very cooperative and didnt fuss or wiggle or anything when I put the little contraption up her nose. I squeezed and she jumped back and laughed. Dustin looked at me and shook his head...he said..you know you are supposed to squeeze that before you stick it up her nose...that way when you release the squeeze it suctions all the congestion out...you my dear, just blew a bunch of air up her nose. OH no!! I felt terrible!! At least the little sweat pea laughed when I did this...again..she must have known to take it easy on me. Shortly thereafter the parents came home to rescue their kids from us LOL...Dustin and I laughed..and once we walked into the door of our own house..we looked at eachother with a smile and said..we have a lot to learn! Boy was that the understatement of the year! I will say this though..I knew it already, but watching Dustin with those two kids warmed my heart through and through. I have no doubt he will be an excellent father and I am so very lucky to have kiddos with this guy. Now..if poor Gage can bear with having Lucille Ball as a mother for just a bit, I promise I will learn all I can and take good care of you little guy.

This past weekend we also celebrated Halloween! Dustin and I sat outside with our bowl of candy...and our mini mutt and greeted all the trick or treaters (and good grief were there a lot of them) Day-Z was the perfect pooch not growling or barking at anyone. D and I are growing more and more certain every day that she is going to be a great dog to Gage. We laughed at all the little goblins that came by and talked about how this time last year we were both sitting outside with a cocktail watching all the little kids gather candy. This next Halloween we will be joinnig the ranks of parents tirelessly treking up and down the streets gathering mounds of candy with our very own little goblin. My how things change in one year....and we wouldnt have it any other way!!

In two weeks I have my first shower, and I cannot wait...except..I cannot find anything to wear! I hope to tackle that this weekend and find the perfect, fabulous frock that will hi-lite my little Gage...but still make mommy look like something other than a big bloated person. One thing is for sure...I am SO excited to see some old friends and catch up with family I havent seen in far too long. I am so blessed to have such incredible people in my life! This coming weekend also marks the start of deer season..so...that means...so long Daddy DK...we'll see you after you nab the big one! Dustin spent this past weekend doting on me again. Imagine that. He took me shopping for new clothes and told me to buy everything I loved that fit now, and would have room to grow, practical guy that he is : ) I literally tried on 36 shirts...he calmly, patiently sat on a bench outside the dressing room and didnt grow restless, rush me, or anything. (I think it helped that he had the Texas Tech game going on my phone, which kept him occupied) But still, he happily opened his wallet at the register and kissed me on my cheek and told me how beautiful I was and he hoped I liked my new threads! I dont know what I did to deserve him! Thank you honey!

On a different note, there are so many exciting things coming up...showers, Thanksgiving, Thanksmas, another shower...its exciting times! I will post pics tomorrow evening of my baby bump, which is in full effect, and little G's nursery! Love to you all....