This one goes out to Unckie K in St. Louis...

So.

We've slacked a bit on the baby blog and we truly apologize for that. Some of our friends have been kind enough to let us know this, too. : )

I don't know about Andy, because I think he ALWAYS feels busy, but I have never felt so busy in my entire life! Between the two baby showers, traveling, baby classes every week, house-hunting, working, dr. appts., and studying for my Pharmacy exam...I don't know where the time has gone. And don't forget to add in family time with the kids and time for just Andy and me.

There has been alot going on and alot to update you on, so I'll try and start from the beginning of my list.

The Baby Showers:

On March 14th, we traveled up north to The Region for our first baby shower. This was thrown by my Grandma Cheney, Nicole Voges (best friend) and my sister, Tara. Andy and I traveled up on a Friday afternoon and stayed at one of the local Marriotts. We met up with Tara, her friend Ashley, and her friend April who traveled up with her from St. Louis. We went out to dinner at a Region fave, Pepe's, and then went over to Sara Eisensee's (Grudzien) house for catching up, baking, and drinking (not me, I had Vitamin Water). It was great to hang out with my old pals from high school and my sister. Andy made his way to Sara's husband's "man cave" for the night for a few beers and some NCAA action. The next day was the baby shower and it was held at my Grandma's church in Hessville. It was a fantastic time and they had great food, lovely decorations, and organization only I can appreciate. : ) We received many wonderful and beautiful gifts and we are so thankful for all of them and for all the people that attended. I got to see all my family, all my friends from high school, and alot of other people that i haven't seen for at least 5 to 10 years. It was a magnificent reunion! Our hosts did such a wonderful job and I can't thank them enough!

And this Saturday is Baby Shower #2! This one is being hosted by Ann Harrier (Andy's mom), Amanda Rumsey (another BFF of mine), and Autumn Harrier (Andy's sister-in-law and aunt to our baby!). We are really looking forward to seeing our friends from around Indianapolis that we don't always have time to get together with. And of course, seeing Andy's family and family friends will be fantastic, too. We are really looking forward to tomorrow!

Baby Classes:

So far, Andy and I have taken Newborn Care and Breastfeeding classes. Both were held at St. Francis Hospital where I will be delivering. I'm glad we took the newborn class because I have never cared for a newborn before and my brother is the last one I remember being around and he is now 19! Alot of it was stuff I knew already and honestly, when it comes down to it, I'm sure Andy will be my answer key for everything. He is an excellent father and really good with all kids. The breastfeeding class, though, was very imformative. This is obviously something I know NOTHING about and it was good to learn all the positions and techniques. And we got to hear alot of personal stories from our instructor that made me feel more confident in my decision to breastfeed. Next up is our childbirth class in April. That should be fun...

Dr. Appts.

As for the Dr., I feel like I am there all the time now! I have been having a few protein issues recently and I am being tested for things right now in regards to that. So, everyone cross your fingers that everything will be okay in the end! Other than that, everything else has been going well. All of my tests have come back in good standing in everyway possible. The baby is still growing a bit bigger and ahead of schedule, but that's okay. We'll take her whenever she is ready! Aside from the all the fun testing I have been doing, I am basically just getting checkups every week and everything has been good. My total weight gain so far has been 13lbs, but I expect to put more on during these last 6 weeks. We get to hear the heartbeat everytime and she has been really consistent. We have another ultrasound scheduled next week and this will be our last one. Let's really hope she is a girl!!

The Baby:

She's a pusher! She loves pushing on me all day long. She still kicks and when she does I almost fall out of my chair. But lately it has been alot of pushing, which is crazy to feel and see. It was obviously weird the first time I felt movement and had to get used to it. But, I think it will be even more weird to NOT have that feeling in me anymore! I will miss it. My belly has brought me even closer with Andy's kids and I love that. As for her name we still have no idea!! We have narrowed it down even more and you can throw our last ideas out the window! It's a hard decision and one that we hope to come to very soon.

Personal Life:

Yesterday I took my exam for National Certification. This means I get to have CPhT after my name now! Certified Pharmacy Technician. Yippee! I studied long and hard for this and I am so glad I passed the exam. Before I was only State Certified, but now with National Certification I can work at a hospital and in other pharmacy environments. Unfortunately, I can't do anything with this right now since the baby will be coming, but I will continue to work part time (VERY part time) at CVS until the baby is born and then we'll see where I go after that!

We've just been busy bees around here and I feel busier and busier the closer we get to the due date. Andy and I are both really excited and this will be a new adventure for us.

If I can figure it out, I will post Baby Shower pictures in the next blog for everyone to see!