Belly Watch - Update

I guess it is time to update the belly pics again.  We are going to the Dr. every week now and are still waiting on the first contraction....  The baby is moving like crazy but no signs of labor yet.

36.5 Weeks

37 Weeks

38.5 Weeks

I really hope the baby comes on time, or early....  I am not the most patient man.  At least once a day I say something like "Come on squeeze that thing out already."  Or "When are you going to start contracting?"  Either yesterday or this morning Andrea said she can't wait to see how crazy I will be if the baby comes late....

Baby Showers

As far as Andrea and I can tell we are pretty close to being ready for baby. We have had some really fun showers and have very generous fiends and family!! We have gotten gift cards, diapers, wipes, handmade blankets, diapers, wipes, burp cloths, diapers, wipes, clothes, diapers, wipes... well you get the picture :-)

Caleb, Ken and Meat.

Andrea modeling the string that was 

my guess at her belly size.

My string is the one hanging off the table.

Ok, so I guessed a little bigger than I should have....

I mentioned the "College Shower" in a previous post but didn't really go into detail. The college shower was a bunch of Andrea's friends from college and the friends we have made through that group, it could have also been called the volleyball shower. It was at a park in Chapel Hill and was also co-ed. We cooked out and played some games, like guess the celebrity mommy and then played a water balloon toss game, which was just the primer to the water balloon fight! It was very enjoyable and the water balloon fight made all the guys who said baby showers were dumb eat their words... I think.

The Baby Toss Game... aka water balloon toss.

Andrea just caught and exploded a water balloon

 in her face... she was soaked! 

The simple joys of Helium.

The "Family Shower" was held at Eno River State Park (aka my office). We cooked out at a picnic shelter and played a few games. My family apparently is not good at guessing belly circumference, as we were all too long. We had two tables full of gifts which was incredible!! There were also quite a few mommies at this shower so we got advice and gifts that have personal experience behind them, which was very nice. Gifts like a remote control music playing car mirror (so you can push a button to entertain baby instead of reaching around and wrecking your car) to a device to turn anything into a bib (think kid friendly version of the alligator clips and chain used at a dentist office).

The family shower with a blanket from my mom.

I put a bunch of pictures from the family shower and my parents visit in the album below...

Family Shower and Gwinn Visit

Baby Moves Movie

I have been playing with the mac recently and making some videos.  Here is a little video of the baby moving inside of Andrea.  Some of the moves are really obvious some are more subtle.  I hope you enjoy.

Family Fun

This past weekend my family was in town for a baby shower and visit.  My sister flew in from Florida and my parents and Pops drove over from Kentucky; they all arrived on Thursday and stayed through Monday.  We mainly just hung around the house but it was a good visit.

The whole family after the baby shower.

We had the traditional arrival pizza on Thursday.  Friday we did some work around the house.  We cleaned out the gutters, weeded the flower bed and put down timbers and mulch in the bed also.  Saturday we had the baby shower, tons of fun, and then had the Eakrights and Renfrows over.  The girls looked through onesies in the nursery and my dad and I put together the glider and stroller.  

Jill, Me & Andrea

Sunday some of us went to church and then we all hung out at the house again, taking naps and watching Harry Potter.  Then for dinner on Sunday we celebrated my Dad's 60th birthday!!  We took him to the Angus Barn and he got a Filet Mignon and Lobster Tail... he loved it!  We all ate well and enjoyed the dinner and company.

My Dad's 60th B-Day Dinner.

As already stated, it was a great visit.  We had not seen Jill, Pops or my Dad since Christmas, and had not seen my mom since March.  We look forward to seeing them again after the baby is born!

My mom practicing with our niece Claire, whom Pops adored!

Thirty Six weeks!

We are in the home stretch now!!  We had our 36 week appointment yesterday and now we have weekly Dr.'s appointments.  It really sinks in when the Dr. says "Well any day now, do you have your bag packed?"

Well we just packed two bags and made a list of grab in a hurry items :-)

We are very excited for a few reasons:

• My parents, sister and Pops will be in town Thursday through Monday.  
  
• We have another shower on Saturday. 
  
• We get to greet our son/daughter in like 30 days or so!!!!
  

(First post without pics.... sorry)

A Tale of Two Pack-rats

Andrea and I have a problem, a problem with STUFF.  Apparently I have led people on to believe that we are close to getting the nursery completed... well kind of.  We have a theme and have since painted, put up the baby furniture, added a shelf to the closet, and commissioned my mom to sew like crazy; but now we need space.  We are getting rid of a lot of stuff, in fact we have had two yard sales and made a trip to Good Will!  However, there is still a lot of stuff.  

I knew that we were both pack-rats, but my eyes have been opened and I see that we need help.  Luckily, I have already narrowed most of my stuff down to a few boxes that contain priceless crafts from Boy Scout Summer Camp, Cub Scout patches, school awards and college textbooks. They are securely stowed in the attic.  Andrea, however, is smack in the middle of her stuff!  From where I sit I can see no less than 7 boxes of cards and notes passed in school.  She is getting rid of them slowly, but she has to read them first... she opens the intricately folded notes and laughs about what was happening that day in high school, or comments about how sweet her sister is for mailing her a soccer booster.  It is quite the process, but I love the girl!

Andrea wearing a crown (made in which decade I do not know) surrounded by pictures, cards, school notes and $15 she stumbled upon!

A box of notes from school as well as ribbons worn in HS X-country.

Crazy Dog

Most of you know that Doc is a little timid... well he is also very afraid of thunder.  We have been getting some good storms the past week or so and it drives Doc crazy.  He whimpers, pants, sheds and tries to get very close.  We snapped some pics during a recent storm.

Doc was first hiding in the corner, wedged between the media cabinet and couch with the fan and exercise ball adding extra protection.

Then he climbed up on his momma and fell asleep.

Birthday Festivities!

On Friday June, 27 Andrea turned 29!!!! We both had the day off and made good use of it. We slept in until 10:00 AM!

We started the day by putting the crib together. It was very fun and having baby furniture makes it that much more real. The nursery is coming together nicely.

Crib assemblage.

After we got the crib together we went to lunch at Tupelo's in downtown Hillsborough. Andrea has been asking to go there for a while and then when we got there is was not the place she thought it was :-) We enjoyed lunch and she opened some of her presents there. I was able to intercept the mail and surprised her with cards and a gift that were sent to her... she loved it, but I hope she does not return the favor (I am not as patient with surprises).

Shock and awe at the cards and gifts!

From lunch I took her to get a pedicure. I had never been in a nail salon before and it was as stereotypical as expected. It was run by one asian family, the girls did the work and gossiped (about what who knows) in some asian language the whole time, a husband sat up front playing on a computer and looking bored and the older woman who did Andrea's nails never spoke English she just smiled and motioned where to sit and when to stand. As we left the nail salon Andrea promptly ruined the pedicure by kicking the car door while sitting down. We returned and they graciously repaired the polish!

We then returned home and Andrea's mom was actually just arriving at our house. She was dropping off flowers and love. While she was there I pulled out the ice cream cake and we sang a quick duet!

The three candles mean nothing they

are just there, she turned 29!

We ended the day at a baby shower! It was a ton of fun and our friends are very generous!

Tiny booties and mittens...

Vacation Pictures Online

It took over five weeks after our California vacation, but I have posted some pictures on the internet.  There are three albums broken down into the major legs of the trip:  San Francisco and the surrounding area, Yosemite National Park and Marie and Jeff's Wedding in Wine Country.

San Francisco

Yosemite National Park

Wedding/Wine

We had so much fun on this trip, and hope you get some of the joy through the photographs.