Ready for this Baby!

The past few weeks have been full of getting ready for the baby. Our goal had been to have the nursery done before my parents arrived for Christmas. We were close--all the furniture was done and in place, I just needed to sew the curtains and put some things away. Thanks to help from my mom, we got the nursery cleaned up and looking good just in time to bring in lots and lots of gifts! Monday, January 4 was my church shower. I was so blessed by the love and generosity everyone showed us! My friends Katie and Mary coordinated the event and did a wonderful job. About 35 people were there.

Katie, Me and Mary

My mom and me in front of the cake. The shower date was selected so she'd be able to be in town for it, and I'm so glad she was! Also, we didn't plan to match :)

Aside from needing to find something to hang above the changing table, Jace's room is all finished! We found this changing table through Craigslist--it was a great deal and all it took was a fresh coat of paint to make it just like new.

The glider came from my brother and sister-in-law (thanks Dan and Anna!). It was the rocker they had for their sons and daughter. Once Jace comes, the bassinet will move into our room.

The crib we also found through Craigslist that Nolan painstakingly painted.

My mom made all the bedding for the crib and we love it!

The toy box Nolan's dad made for Jace. For now, though, we're using it to store clothes that he won't fit in yet.

The dresser we're using for Jace was purchased by my parents for my nursery when I was born.

The lamp was found before we knew if Jace was a boy or a girl, and the day we found out it was a boy, I called Nolan's mom and asked her to go to Homegoods and pick it up for his room!

A Little Fort Building

We had another fun day with the boys today, and ended it with some web-camming with Mommy, Daddy and Uncle Tim. Sadly (although hilarious at the same time), Micah fell off the couch while talking to them. He was unharmed, but startled by it and really wanted Mommy. While it was nice to see her through the computer, he wanted the real thing. We finally had to say goodbye, which brought even more sobs, so it was Uncle Nolan to the rescue. While Josiah and I made a paper chain to count down the days until Mommy and Daddy come home, Nolan pulled up Dora the Explorer on Netflix online (we've watched a lot of Dora lately), and began to build a fort around Micah. After bath time, both boys needed their own forts to watch one final episode of Word World. All that to say, the night ended with smiles.

Storybook Land with Josiah and Micah

Josiah and Micah are staying with us for a few nights while Dan and Anna are in Maryland for the Army/Navy game (go Navy!). We'll hand them off to Anna's parents on Sunday after church. The boys have been great!

Some cute quotes:
-I picked up Micah Wednesday evening, so it was just him with me and Nolan that night. On Thursday we went to pick up Josiah after school, and when Micah realized we were getting Josiah he shouted, "I misseded Josiah!"
-Today we were on our way to drop Josiah off for school, and Josiah said, "I want to show you my teacher." I pointed out that that means I'd have to walk him into school instead of just dropping off at the door. "Oh, then how about next time. " I told him, "This is the only time I'm dropping you off at school. Do you want me to walk in with you?" He replied, "My head is telling me no, but I really want to show you my teacher." Finally he decided it was ok to have me walk in with him.

We thought it would be fun to go through Christmas Storybook Land at the fair grounds here in Albany. We weren't quite sure what it was all about, except that it was free and could be fun. The freezing rain hit right before we headed out, so we kind of ice skated in and ice skated out. Nolan was great and held both boys' hands so I wouldn't worry about getting pulled down. We were all bundled up and had a great time! The boys were so fun to watch as they ran from one display to the next. The whole thing was a winding path (indoors, thankfully) with all sorts of displaya for different stories--classic nursery rhymes to Disney movies to current cartoons. And at the end of it all--Santa! The boys were so excited to see Santa, and of course, told him they want StarWars toys for Christmas.

Hope Mommy and Daddy are having as much fun as we are!

In front of a Nutcracker at the beginning.

The four of us in front of the big Teddy Bear display.

Little buddies in front of the Teddy Bear Carousel. They were so excited about everything they saw.

Josiah pointing out the Lion King display to Micah, "Micah, it's your favorite!"

In front of the "Cars" display. Micah especially liked this one.

And they both were thrilled to see Sponge Bob.

Sitting on Santa's lap. Micah was very apprehensive before getting on his lap, and looked completely serious (and almost scared) until we told them to smile for the camera. We shuffled back out to the car and the enjoyed warming up with hot chocolate at home while watching Dora (or Dura as the boys say) the Explorer. This made me excited to make Christmas Storybook Land a tradition once Jace is old enough.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

We headed out the day after Thanksgiving for our annual tree hunt at Volsted Family Farms here in Albany. It was our fastest, happiest, easiest (aside from the tree lifting part) tree hunt yet! I had it pretty easy since the pregnancy makes me exempt from heavy lifting. I'm so thankful to have such a strong husband! Maybe next year we'll have to take Uncle Mike along to help carry the tree.

Nolan in his rain gear from work. We learned quickly a few years ago that this can help make laying on the ground under the tree to cut it down much more pleasant. I think he looks cute in his rain gear :)

On the wagon ride out to the tree lot. Volsted's is huge with two very large tree lots!

Nolan with our beautiful tree! We got a Nordman for the second year in a row.

Me with the tree. Crazy to think next year we'll have a visible baby with us!

We loved having the Pilot with a roof rack to tie the tree onto. In the past we've had to use Nolan's work truck.

The final product. Notice that Nolan has already bought and wrapped two gifts for me. I once told him that I think every Christmas tree looks better with presents under it, so he's always quick to put some under our tree. Such a sweet husband.

On a baby note--Jace is growing nicely and has a great heart rate. He enjoys pushing and wiggling, and especially likes to push his little rear out.

November Happenings

Here's Nolan and both cats... they LOVE joining either of us on the recliner. Tonight while Nolan was trying to use his laptop Wylie joined him first (on the left). Wylie understands that with the laptop there, it's best to sit beside it. Sophie, on the other hand, isn't quite as respectful and loves to sit on bellies (which isn't always so fun for me).

Here I am at 29 weeks. This baby just keeps growing! I'm pretty sure he's tap dancing in there with full arm swings. I could definitely tell when the third trimester hit... suddenly I'm much more tired and much less comfortable.
We've been going to birth class on Monday nights (fun side note--our instructor went to our family's church when I was little and remembered our family). Here's all the dads. Last week I realized that Michelle Obama's brother and his wife are in our class (he's the basketball coach for OSU). He's the tall guy in the middle of this picture. Last night was the last class until we have a reunion after all the babies are born.

All the mommies, lined up from due the soonest to latest. our class was large because this is the last one for anyone due in January or February to take, so we had three months of due dates represented.

And, on another great note, we sold the Corolla exactly one week after listing it!

Car Swap!

For the past year, we've been watching the prices of used Toyota Highlanders and Acura MDXs. We knew eventually we'd like to upgrade the Corolla to an SUV, but weren't sure when that would be a real option. As our due date gets closer (and with paying off both our cars in August!), we started watching prices more closely, and talking about why upgrading would be important. One of the biggest factors was wanting more seating--after all, we're going to need room to still haul Dan and Anna's kids when we watch them (in fact, when we told Josiah we were pregnant, he wasn't too happy, and we're pretty sure it was because he didn't know how they'd fit in our car with a baby too), so we wanted an SUV with third row seating. I also was concerned about how my back would handle lowering a car seat into the backseat, considering just one weekend of putting Cami in her seat could make me hurt. And there were other factors like wanting an automatic, sitting higher for driving on the freeway, and a better winter time car.

The search got serious last week, and we ended up finding a great deal on a 2004 Honda Pilot (which got added to the list after researching them). It's great to drive and I'm excited for the day when I get to drive it on a regular basis (when Jace comes), but for now, I'll be driving the Solara because it gets better gas mileage.

We just listed my Corolla on Craigslist tonight, and already have an interested OSU grad student! It'll be sad to say goodbye to my car... she's been a good one! But I'm very excited to have upgraded to what Nolan calls, a "mom" car.

"Lola" the Corolla... she was a great car!

The new Pilot... I'm not sure it has enough personality yet for a name.

More Pictures of Baby Jace

Here are two new profile shots!