Tick, tock, tick, tock...

Well folks, here we are at the 37 week mark! Essentially, this baby is full-baked! She is ready to make her appearance any time now. Despite the fact that I would love to meet her a little early, I have a feeling that she is going to be in there for the long-haul! I would be very surprised if she arrives before her due date (April 23rd).
We are pretty much ready. We are meeting with the midwife every week now; last week we had our final ultrasound to check the position of the placenta, and we got some very good news! The placenta has migrated up enough to be out of the way for a natural birth. Our birth plan is complete, hospital tour/registration complete, we finished our 12-week childbirth-prep class, and we have our breastfeeding class with our Doula next Monday. I still have a few small things to finish up around the house, but overall we're ready!
I am still feeling pretty energetic; sleeping is becoming a little more difficult, but I am still walking regularly and going to yoga 3-4 times/week. Although not miserable, I do long for the days when I could easily roll over and jump out of bed in the morning!
I have been meaning to post some pictures of the baby's room but kept forgetting, so here they are:

BBQ for Baby!

So much happening around the Allison house the last few weeks! Chris and Garrett worked very hard to build me the most beautiful pergola over the back patio two weekends ago. It is seriously more than anything I could have imagined! Here is the finished product:

In other news, we had our Baby BBQ this past weekend. My mom wanted to host a big baby shower, but I convinced her to exchange the silly showers games and finger sandwiches for BBQ and beer! It was a total blast; our house was packed with family and friends, and they generously helped us to prepare for the impending arrival of the wee baby. Here is a quick slide show of the good times:

Make a Smilebox photobook

Finally, here is the newest picture of the belly taken tonight at 35 weeks...It is starting to look a little comical :)

Feeling the Stretch

We are officially in the final weeks of pregnancy, and I can't believe how fast time is flying!! As of tonight we are 32 weeks, 3 days into this thing!
Our midwife appointments have been going well; we are still crossing our fingers that that pesky low-lying placenta resolves itself soon otherwise it could present some difficulties during labor and delivery (maternal bleeding/hemorrhage). We are having an ultrasound done at 36 weeks with a perinatologist in order to get a better idea of what we are dealing with.
I have gained a whopping 21 pounds so far, and I am definitely feeling it! If I keep this up (1 lb./week) I will gain about 28-29 pounds when it's all over. Considering my midwife wanted me to gain between 25-35 pounds, I can't really complain.
Here is a picture from this evening (this belly isn't messing around any more):

This weekend we went down to the antique shops in The Heights and I found some really cute vintage (1950's & 60's) baby clothes including this adorable 1950's Jantzen baby swimsuit:

I am really starting to really embrace the fact that there will be a little GIRL here very shortly!!!

Key West Finale...Finally!

We hit the ground running the second we got home, so this post is a little tardy but I have to get it up here before I forget everything! On day 3 of our trip we visited the Southernmost Point and the Hemingway House. The grounds at Hemingway's House were spectacular!! Beautiful and lush gardens all around. His 6-toed cats lounged around all over the place; I think there were ~30 of them there. We walked all over the island on day three and ate the most amazing Cuban food for dinner that night! Day 4 (Valentine's Day) was our relaxing day; we spent the majority of the day at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park where they have the most beautiful beach! Our feet were sore from walking the day before so we rented a bicycle built for 2 on Saturday as well! That was an adventure in itself. We decided that every couple should have to ride one of these in an urban setting at least once in their relationship (great team-building exercise). We enjoyed the sunset that night from the deck of the hotel pool where our bartender kept me sufficiently supplied with mango smoothies!! Sunday we enjoyed a big breakfast on the water and hit up a local farmer's market that we came across. Around 11am, we left Key West for Miami in our convertible! The drive back was beautiful. We stopped at Bahia Honda State Park and spotted some crazy iguanas! We then headed to Key Biscayne where we toured Bill Baggs State Park including an old lighthouse. Our last stop was Miami International Airport!
Enjoy the pics of our final days!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Vacay Days 1 & 2

As day 2 comes to a close, I thought I would post a little update of the trip so far. We arrived in Miami yesterday morning, rented a car, and drove down to John Pennekamp State Park in Key Largo where we went on a snorkeling trip to a reef called the Grecian Rocks. It was spectacular! We saw gorgeous coral, barracuda, and numerous varieties of really colorful fish. After our snorkeling trip we made the 2.5 hour drive to Key West where we checked into our hotel. We have a suite with an ocean view!
Today we did a full-day sail charter; we left at 9:00am and sailed out to some shallow reefs where we did a little snorkeling (We spotted several lobster, some conch, and a large stingray). Then we sailed around some more while enjoying a picnic lunch on the boat. We then kayaked around a mangrove island! That was really neat; we saw osprey, pelicans, ibis, and countless other ocean critters. After cleaning up at the hotel, we headed down to sunset pier for some dinner and an awesome view of the setting sun!! Here is a slideshow of the events (If someone knows of a good slideshow maker PLEASE share because I hate smilebox!!!):

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The weather has been more than perfect since we arrived. It has been sunny, slightly breezy with highs between 78-80 degrees! Needless to say, we don't really want to leave!
Oh yeah...and we are officially 30 weeks pregnant today! Here is our belly shot from tonight:

Let them eat cake...again!

Ok...I finally faced my fear of fondant. I found a recipe for some homemade, really yummy fondant (yucky tasting fondant is one of my pet-peeves!) and whipped up a batch with the handy kitchen-aid. Here is the resulting cake:

It is a 2-layer 6-inch yellow butter cake (Martha Stewart recipe), filled and covered with a Swiss meringue buttercream that was flavored with strawberry preserves. I covered it and decorated using the fondant. It was quite yummy!

Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go...

It feels like it has been a while since we have updated everyone on our recent happenings! We have officially made it to our third and last trimester...YAY!! Last week I went in for my 28 week check-up and baby looks great. We had a quick ultrasound to check a low-lying placenta that was identified at 20 weeks. Basically my placenta is sitting a little too close for comfort to my cervix which could prove difficult for a vaginal delivery. My midwife feels pretty confident that over the next month the placenta will move up and out of the way as my uterus continues to expand. We are staying positive and thinking 'placenta migrating' positive thoughts around here because basically that is all you can do!!
I am still feeling good and haven't had to slow down too much! My yoga instructor has started to reduce my inversions (upside down positions) but other than that I am hanging in there.
Here is a picture from last week at 28 weeks:

In other news, it hit Chris and I 2 weeks ago that we were going to have a baby in less than three months! We had been tossing around the idea of a "last vacation", but hadn't really nailed anything down. Well, a few days ago, Chris decided we should spend 5 days in Key West!!! My midwife cleared us for travel, so we will be flying to Miami next Wednesday and driving down the Keys to Key West where we have a beautiful room that overlooks Mallory Square (the sunset viewing area) for 4 nights. We will be there through Sunday the 15th. We are so excited!!

Sweet Treats!

I decided to break out the cake decorating kit and tap into my creative side today for Jon's 19th birthday. It has been a while since I have made and decorated a real cake (I don't count the ones I throw together at the last minute). I am pretty satisfied by how the iPod cake came out. It makes me want to practice my decorating skills more (if only I would have paid attention to my mom making those thousands of cakes throughout my childhood.) This cake would have looked better had I have followed through with my original plan to cover it in marshmallow fondant (easy to make and tastes great!), but I got lazy and decided to just go with the buttercream.
Here is the final product (click to enlarge):

The icing and piping are all buttercream; the white screen and wheel are made of white chocolate that I poured into molds (i.e. tupperware lids), and the ear buds are made of Twizzlers and mini marshmallows)

26 down, 14 to go!

I can't believe that we have really made it this far! I am days away from entering my third trimester, and this whole thing still seems surreal. It is hard to believe that we will have a baby in this house in a mere three months!
We have started our weekly childbirth prep classes and will continue those until our final class on March 31st. (It is a twelve week class) We really like our teacher and hope to get to know the other five couples in the class.
Chris and I have been busy busy around the house. We will hopefully have some pictures to post of the changes in the next few weeks (including the baby's room!)
Here is a picture of the belly at 26 weeks: (sorry I always look crappy in these; we always remember to take them when I am either already in bed or just out of the shower)

Hello 2009!

Oh 2008! How I will miss you...we had some good times! Alas, a new year is upon us and promises to offer even more exciting things! Chris and I have been enjoying our holiday time together, and I am sad to see him go back to work on Monday, but hey, someone has to pay the bills around here.
We enjoyed being able to spend time with our families and also enjoyed the time we had to work on house projects. We welcomed the new year with a visit to our midwife on January 2nd. Everything is looking peachy; baby is moving around well, and I am measuring right on track. My weight gain is right on track now (12 pounds total) so that is good. It was nice to hear the little one's heart beating away with the doppler again!! Here are some more belly shots from the last few weeks. I am posting these more frequently because I am seriously growing bigger every single day!


On another note, Chris and I are celebrating our 4 year anniversary today (January 3rd). I can't believe that 4 years ago we walked into the Brazos county courthouse in Bryan, Texas wearing jeans and flip-flops and said "I Do!" in front of a Justice of the Peace and her secretary! (We didn't even have wedding bands to exchange!) It was more perfect than anything I could have imagined; we really needed nothing else to make us happy! This morning Chris surprised me with breakfast in bed complete with fresh flowers, homemade blueberry waffles, fresh strawberries, and a McDonald's iced coffee (my favorite secret indulgence...I only allow myself one every month or so)
Here is my beautiful spread:

Hope everyone has a wonderful start to 2009! Ciao :)