36 weeks!

These days I feel like my stomach can't stretch any farther!! Livy is getting really big, and it is pretty easy to determine what body parts she is moving around these days. She played footsie with Damein last night which felt really weird! You could follow her foot around my belly as she continued to push it out and scrap it up against me! It's fun wondering what she is doing in there sometimes!!

Baby Gear!

In the last 2 wks, there has been a lot of assembling of baby gear around here! Swing, pack n play, bouncy seat, etc! Thanks to Damein and my good friend Amanda, I think we have everything we will immediately need put together. This little girl is going to be set!

Getting Closer!!

Tuesday will mark 4 weeks from D-Day...hard to believe! Livy's room is coming right along...still need a few things for the walls, but it's shaping up. Hope she likes it!

Dance, Dance Revolution, STARRING: Livy and Kuyper!!

Well Livy and Kuyper already have a lot in common, particularly in their passion for dance, as you will see in the 2 video clips here:) Kuyper is showing of some of his newest moves (including some impressive hip thrusts) and Livy has a show of her own...the dance routine not as easy to decipher!
It was sorta difficult to capture the intensity of her movements on camera for some reason, but keep in mind the camera is not what is moving! Especially from the 20 second mark on, she is very active!

Our Backyard Tree

I'm pretty proud of the one tree in our 'backyard', and have especially loved it with its fall colors. I was too late to take a picture of it last year, but was not going to make the same mistake this year!
The picture just doesn't do it justice! :)

Morning Prayer Walks

Now that the weather has changed and we are being blessed with this crisp, cooler fall weather, Livy and I are taking full advantage! We wrap up with pants and a jacket and head out for a peaceful walk first thing in the morning. It's been a great time for me to pray and share some of my anxieties and also my joys and excitement regarding the arrival of our little one, as well as everything else that is going on!
We have a really well kept, paved cemetery next to our subdivision and it has been a quiet and peaceful place to think and walk.
As I was talking to Grandan (my 92-year old grandfather) the other day, he mentioned how much he loves his prayer walks, as he has been taking morning walks for longer than I've been alive. Like him, I love these times to revel in God's creation and enjoy a still heart focused on him and his love and goodness before the busy day begins.

Keeping Kuyper

We had the great privilege of keeping Kuyper, one of Livy's best friends (of course she has friends already:), for our friends Matt and Ashley last weekend. Damein had Kuyper cracking up....he's going to be a great daddy!!

More Pi Please!!

After spending time in the park getting our maternity pics and enjoying the awesome fall weather, we joined our friends Matt, Ashley, and Kuyper at Pi (and you will know exactly what that is if you have been reading my blog!) in an area called the Loop, for Ashley's bday. Damein always talks about this place for a week after we go, it's really funny how much he loves it, but it is well deserved!

As you can see we are very happy about this pizza, and I am very pregnant:)

Maternity Pics

Last weekend we spent a few hours outside with a good friend from church taking maternity pics. It was a gorgeous day and we spent most of our time in Forest Park, by far one of our favorite spots in STL. Here are a few sneak peeks until we get the rest of our pictures!!
Check out Joani's website (she's reworking it right now), she's great!! www.joanijarmanphotography.com

35 weeks and food update

I'm continuing on my cooking and baking marathon, I know Damein and Livy both really appreciate it while I can do it, as we are closing in on the last few weeks here!

Belly's still growing, Livy's still growing and getting much more affirmative about her movements. She sticks herself out and makes all sorts of contortions out of my stomach whenever she wants, which is often these days! And she likes to stick her tush out with lots of force and gets really comfy with it there and doesn't like to push it back in even with my gentle coercions :) Wonder what this may say about her personality??

I had a total cooking spree a week ago, making tons of squash veggie soup and sweet potato as well as pumpkin muffins. We should be good on the muffins after she comes, I've frozen a lot of them!

33 weeks: Baby update

This was a fun update this week on what is potentially going on with Livy that I got from the 'what to expect' website:
"This week your baby may be anywhere between 17 to 19 inches in length and weigh more than four and a half pounds. Your baby could grow a full inch more this week alone — especially if he or she has been on the shorter side until now.
If your uterine walls had eyes, here's what you'd see: your fetus acting more and more like a baby, with his or her eyes closing during sleep and opening while awake. And because those uterine walls are becoming thinner, more light penetrates the womb, helping your baby differentiate between day and night (now if only baby can remember that difference on the outside!).

And good news! Your baby has reached an important milestone about now: The development of his or her own immune system that (along with antibodies from you) will be able to provide protection from mild infections."

33 weeks and still loving food:)

I will be 33 weeks on Tuesday, hard to believe...yep, that equals about 7 weeks left! Livy is still quite the active little girl, and my favorite movement of hers is when she moves her hands around and I can feel her fingers in sort of a grasping motion on my stomach. It is so sweet!
Here are some yummy pumpkin muffins I made when we went to hang with our friends Matt and Ashley the other night. Brand new recipe...but it is a keeper! Yum.
Also, I included a picture of my good friend (and boss:), Lori when we went to eat some awesome Thai food together last week. Curry is my fav!!

Nursery Progression...

Coming along with the nursery:) Still lack a few accessories and organization to pull it all together:)

SMOOTHIE!

When we were in Indy a few weekends ago with our friends Corey and Janet, Janet made us an awesome berry smoothie, which as you can see here...I was really happy about!!! Janet, wish you lived closer for when I have these smoothie cravings:)...however, you are probably very preoccupied with your new addition!

Growing Belly

Damein has a healthy obsession with my growing belly and our sweet pea inside:) He took this picture while I was working, without me knowing...I love you dear!

Tis the Season...for Pumpkin!!

I have been craving pumpkin...pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins (which I made last weekend), and have been putting pumpkin in my morning oatmeal. Never tried that before but it is really good, especially combined with some cinnamon!
These muffins, as Damein said, are 'Bread Co.' style!" (which is Panera Bread to those of you who don't live in STL).
Yum, they were so good!
I feel like a little squirrel storing up for winter b/c lots of the things I make, I will make extra and freeze for after Livy gets here. I have zucchini bread and muffins frozen, some of the these pumpkin muffins, strawberry muffins (yes, I really like muffins), oat bran pancakes, and some veggie soup:) I'm sure I will add more to that before it is all said and done!
Anything that I really like at the moment, that I know will freeze well, I am sure to save some to freeze so that we can enjoy its goodness in a few months!

It's the Simple Things...

Food is a wonderful thing...I'm so thankful God created us to eat and that he gave us lots of flavors to experience!!
Things like ice cream (thanks Sharlene for the ice cream) and homemade biscuits and gravy make me REALLY happy! :)

HiCcUpS...Week 31

I can now feel Livy's little hiccups, which seem to happen pretty regularly...and although we think they are pretty cute, I'm hoping they aren't a nuisance to her :) I told Damein one night as we went to bed that I felt sorry for her because they had been going on for so long and I felt like she just needed to be held! But from what I hear, they aren't such a pain to babies in the womb like they are to us:)