3 1/2 weeks to go!

The nursery is complete (save a few pictures and curtains to be hung), the Pack N' Play is set up in the dining room, the car seat bases are installed in both cars, the hospital bag is packed, and we're picking up the cradle from Jessie and Ryan this weekend. All we need now is our baby girl!

It's hard to believe that she'll be here in just a few short weeks. I am such a cyclone of emotions right now: excited, impatient, terrified, nervous. We are about to meet our daughter for the first time (and we're so curious to see what she looks like!). We are being handed this perfect little person, and it will be up to us to make sure she grows up happy and healthy. It is, by far, the biggest responsibility we've ever had (sorry Tater, you're way easier), and that is both stressful beyond belief and exciting at the same time.

All we can do is love her unconditionally, the same way our parents loved us, and try to teach her how to be a good person and live a good life. Ryan's cousin recently posted this quote by Elizabeth Stone on Facebook: "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." So true. . .

Surprise!

On Friday afternoon, I was preparing to go to a meeting with my company's cofounder to discuss marketing test results. I printed out the report, went over any unusual results, and then grabbed my notebook, pen and BlackBerry and made my way downstairs.

So imagine my shock (and relief, truth be told) when I walked into a conference room full of my coworkers for a surprise baby shower! There was tons of food and they decorated the conference room in our nursery theme. I didn't even notice that my department had cleared out when I walked to the stairwell. After enjoying chocolate Rice Krispie treats, yummy cupcakes, fruit, brownies and so many other delicious things, they presented me a card signed by everyone, a baby bath set and (dun duh duh dun) our STROLLER!!

After so much confusion over our baby registry, I was truly surprised and overcome by their generosity. People never cease to amaze me. A huge THANK YOU goes out to my fellow Envisionaries!

Ta Da!!

Here are the first pictures of Baby Breeden's nursery! We still have a few things left to do, like hang pictures and the bookshelf on the wall, and the curtains are backorder until October (ugh), but this should give you a pretty good idea of what the room looks like. We did a vintage nursery rhyme theme in the room and even have vintage Mary Had a Little Lamb bookends to put on the bookshelf when it's up. We can't wait to see what it looks like when it's all finished!

Meet Benjamin Alan Rome!

On Sunday, August 8th, Dori and Scott welcomed Baby Rome into the world. Benjamin Alan Rome burst onto the scene at a healthy 8 lbs 6 oz and just as cute as can be. The following Wednesday, Ryan and I ventured out to meet the newest Rome and visit his very tired but very happy parents. :) I wish I'd taken more pictures, but here are a couple.

Last Baby Shower

This past Saturday, Ryan's parents threw us our third and final baby shower. This time it was a coed shower, so Ryan got to partake in the festivities. :) There was lots of food, family and fun, and Baby Breeden was again showered with lots of love and happy wishes. It's hard to believe that the next time the family is all together like that, she'll be here!! Here are some pictures from the day:

Good News!

As some of you already know, I am already dilated 1 cm and am 50% effaced. When the doctor discovered this at our appointment last Friday the 6th, there was some cause for concern since I still had 7 weeks to go before my due date. So we went to the radiology lab on Tuesday this week for an ultrasound and then back to the doctor yesterday for the verdict. The good news is that there hasn't been any change since last week, so if labor is progressing at all, it's moving slowly enough to not be a huge issue. The GREAT news is that I don't have to have steroid shots or go on bed rest or anything- I just have to take it easy and count my contractions to make sure they don't become more frequent. I can definitely handle that! So for now, Baby Breeden is staying cozy in her little home and, hopefully, won't feel the need to make an early debut.

Where's Tater when I need her?

It's becoming increasingly more difficult to bend over and pick things up off of the floor. That's why it's so great to have a dog in the house. Whenever I drop food, she cleans it up for me. However, I spend most of my time in the office, and I can't easily bring her here with me (and I doubt she'd be as eager to pick up paper anyway).

I am constantly dropping stuff at my desk. The other day, I leaned over to grab something and knocked it on the floor accidentally. As I watched the paper float to the ground, I actually started weighing exactly how important that task was to complete. After all, the night crew would throw it away for me so I wouldn't have to pick it up. Alas, I got on all fours to crawl under my desk and pick it up.

But I have discovered another way. . . my monkey toes. I have managed to pick up all sorts of things off the floor with my feet. Why did I not think of this sooner?! Candy wrapper on the floor? No sweat! Pen knocked off the desk? Piece of cake! Granted, this doesn't always work out. Ryan walked in the kitchen the other day to find me staring at the floor and working feverishly to pick up something I had dropped (obviously not food or Tater would have vacuumed it up for me). I had been working at it for a good 5 minutes without any luck, but there was no way I was bending over. He walked over to me, picked it up (while chuckling) and handed it to me. Show off. . .

Baby Shower #2!

This past weekend, Ryan and I drove back to my hometown for our second baby shower, thrown by my family. It was so great to see everyone! I hadn't seen my grandma since I was around 20 weeks, and I've definitely grown since then. We got so many wonderful gifts at the shower- Baby Breeden is feeling the love! I think Ryan's favorite gift was a tiny little pair of Sperry Topsiders that his parents gave to us-I mean, how cute are these?!

The shower was themed "Baby Breeden Bliss" to match our blog, and everything was absolutely amazing! Here are some more pictures from the day: