When It Rains It Pours...Baby Shower Number 2

Meg had another baby shower this weekend with college friends and some family. Again we were blessed with many great gifts. Even some very high quality hand made blankets. We are now spending the rest of the weekend going through the gifts, getting them organized and washing some clothes and blankets. We also have now finished our "Birth Preferences" and have our bags ready for the hospital.

Here are the pictures from this weekends baby shower:

Matching Socks Game!

Cute Dino Outfit

Beautiful blanket made by Sonia (Jeremy's Mom) and Shirley (Jeremy's Aunt)

Bouncer Swing from Heidi (Jeremy's Sister)

Baby Quilt from Aunt Shirley

Flannel blankets to keep warm (from Amber)

What a smart looking baby our son will be (from Brittnie)

Another great outfit (from Kate)

Shower Hosts - Cindy, Gracia, Meggan and Brittnie (left to right)

3 Weeks to Go!

8 Months Pregnant

We are getting super close to Baby Day and Meg and I are getting SUPER excited! So here is the quick catch up:

Late in October I took Meg to a Bed and Breakfast up in St. Cloud (where Meg and I went to college...the first time). The Bed and Breakfast is rated as one of the tops in the country and was our first time attending a B&B. We had a beautiful room and the hosts were very nice people. We spent the weekend walking around our old stomping grounds on campus, going on a garden/ river walk, and attending a St. Cloud State hockey game.

Sitting on the campus of St. Cloud State

Meg and I spent Thanksgiving weekend taking care of a few last things before the baby comes. The crib, crib mattress, changing table, clothes, dresser, blankets, etc... are all ready to go. The baby room looks great and I think we will have all the necessities to take care of our little one when he comes home from the hospital (at least for the first few days). However, with a work baby shower earlier this week and another one scheduled for friends and family this weekend, I know we will have to go through and organize it again.

Speaking of which, Meg had a baby shower with people from work this week. We got a ton of great stuff from these lovely ladies. They definitely went overboard with buying some great stuff for our little one. Meg and I are now just excited to put it all to good use.

Work baby shower!

On my work front, this week I had two appointments that I had to respond to that I could only tentatively plan on attending and one meeting I had to reschedule because the baby could be here soon. Things like that make the upcoming day feel even more imminent and exciting.

We are now visiting the doctor once every week. He says everything looks good and our baby continues to grow and develop on schedule. At our last appointment Meg had the final test that she needed to take. So now it is simply a matter of waiting for the big day to arrive.

And now for a few more pics, check out how gorgeous my pregnant wife looks:

Go Huskies!

Look at that wonderful bathroom in the B&B

What a pretty lady!

More fun at the work baby shower

I'll Have My Cake...And Eat It Too

At our 28 week appointment Meg was administered a Glucose Test. This test is to screen for Gestational Diabetes (diabetes brought on by pregnancy) which can be a bit of a risk for both mom and baby. If Meg had gestational diabetes she would have to change her diet and take out sweets. Luckily, our doctor came in and told Meg that she could go home and have some cookies and ice cream. No Gestational Diabetes!!! We also got to hear the baby's heart beat, found out that our baby was in the correct position (head down), and Meg's belly was measured to make sure everything is growing as it should. Meg's pregnancy continues to go smoothly.

Last week Meg and I spent about 3 hours in Babies R Us. Luckily they gave us a cheat sheet to give Meg and I and idea of some things we needed to put on our registry. There is literally a ton of stuff out there and it is a little difficult to determine what is needed and what is not. Meg continues to spend time online (almost nightly) trying to find the perfect items for our little bundle of joy.

At my office, both myself and another guy, are expecting our first kids. He and his wife are expecting a baby girl in November while Meg and I are expecting our boy in December. As such, the idea of having a joint office baby shower was floated around a couple months ago. Well, last week my work had a surprise baby shower for us. We got diapers, wipes, a book, a hand quilted blanket, and (of course) air fresheners. It was quite unexpected, but much appreciated.

Last, but not least, Meg and I have started the first of our baby classes. In the first class we mostly covered Mom's anatomy during pregnancy and a few things on what to expect when the baby comes. We also spent time talking a little bit about breathing exercises and what might be some preferences when coping with the pain of pregnancy.

Well gotta go... We've got another class to get to tonight. Will blog again soon!

Home Sweet Home

Meg and I have been living in our new home in Blaine, MN for about a month and a half. The house is great and the neighborhood is amazing. We really love it! It has taken us about a month and half to get all the furniture in, all the decor arranged, and the house clean. But with some major work this weekend, we are finally ready to show it off. Below are some before and after pictures:

Lower Floor:

BEFORE: Downstairs wall (entertainment center)

AFTER: Downstairs wall (entertainment center)

BEFORE: Downstairs

AFTER: Downstairs

BEFORE: Office/ Study

AFTER: Office/ Study

AFTER: Downstairs

Main Floor:

BEFORE: Living Room/ window

AFTER: Living Room/ window

BEFORE: Living Room Full

AFTER: Living Room Full

BEFORE: Kitchen

AFTER: Kitchen

Upper Level:

BEFORE: Upstairs Bathroom

AFTER: Upstairs Bathroom

AFTER: Main Bedroom

AFTER: Main Bedroom

BEFORE: Spare Bedroom

AFTER: Spare Bedroom

BEFORE: Baby Bedroom

AFTER: Baby Bedroom

AFTER: Baby Bedroom

So what do you think???? Pretty great uh?

More coming to the blog soon...

That's My Boy!

At 24 weeks, our baby is about the size of a papaya.

It has been over a month and a half since our last blog post and life continues to move forward at an incredible pace. The two biggest things that have happened is that Meg and I now know the gender of our baby and we have become homeowners.

At our 16 week doctors appointment, Meggan and I were told to come to the 20 week appointment knowing whether or not we wanted to know the gender of our baby. According to most of our baby books, doctors can determine the sex of the baby at around 18-20 weeks. The decision to find out our baby's gender was simple. We wanted to know! Meggan and I are both (for the most part) planners, and we wanted to begin planning the birth of our kid. At the 20 week appointment, we spent about an hour with the ultra sound technician as she studied, measured, and took pictures of our baby. The appointment was surreal. We were filled with a lot of excitement and and a little of anxiety. With every measurement and visual we were reassured of the health of our baby. Eyes...check, nose...check, 2 hands...check, 2 feet...check, 10 fingers...check, 10 toes...check...and so on and so forth. The final thing our technician needed to determine was the gender of our baby. Finally, after nearly an hour of looking at our baby tumble around...then sleep...then tumble around...then sleep in Meg's belly, we were told that we were having a baby boy. According to the technician she always tries to confirm the gender to herself at least 3 times before telling the expecting parents. She also informed us that she has, thus far, has a 100% success rate in accurately determining the gender. We were, and still are, very happy to know that we are having a healthy baby boy. After the meeting with the technician, we meet with the doctor to go over the pictures and confirm with us that the baby was looking good and looked completely healthy. What an exciting and relieving day. Meggan's next appointment (her 24 week appointment) is later this week. See our baby's first pictures below:

Baby's Two Feet (next to each other)

Baby Sleeping

Baby Hand and Leg

Baby Spine Long

Baby Waving

Our other big news was that we closed on our new house on July 31st. We are still getting settled in and there is still work to be done, but it is a relief to know that we have a nice house, in a nice neighborhood to bring our new baby boy home to. More on the house (with pictures) hopefully in the next blog.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that with all the joy and excitement in our lives recently we have also experienced a lot of loss this summer. Meggan and I have lost 3 grandparents this summer. Each of them were wonderful people who brought much joy to those around them. Even during this sorrow, funerals bring together family and I am reminded of how excited I am to start our new family.

With all the change in our lives, I figured I would end with this:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 - "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;"

Crazy Train

At 16 weeks, our baby is about the size of an avocado.

A lot has happened since the last post so I will try and get you all caught up....

Meg is now 16 weeks pregnant and our baby is about the size of an avocado. We recently had our 16 week appointment and the doctor said everything was looking good for both Mom and Baby. Meg and I got to hear our Baby's heart beat for the second time. The heart beat was still strong and fast....sounding like a freight train. Our next appointment is the 20 week appointment. This one is a BIG one as Meg will have her first ultrasound and we will likely find out the gender of our Baby!!! Meg has continued to get a few more maternity clothes, but more will need to be bought and borrowed soon. Thanks to Heather, Meg's sister, we also now have our first baby clothes. I sense this is only the beginning of a lot of new baby clothes, toys, and other fun stuff.

In other news, we recently celebrated Meg at a surprise party (pictures may be coming) for her 30th birthday and for her getting her PhD. Both my parents and sister as well as Meg's sister made the trip for the party as well as numerous friends. She was really surprised and had a great time! Meg's closest friend Brittnie did a great job planning and preparing the chemistry themed party.

On the home front, Meg and I continued to look for the perfect house to start our family in. After visiting over 40 homes, Meg and I put in an offer for a house in Centerville, MN. The community looked great, the house had a wonderful 4-season addition, and overall the house looked good in its price range. However, after we had an inspector come and look at the home we decided it had too many things that needed to be fixed and we walked away from our offer. Meg and I quickly visited about 10 more houses and found a great home in Blaine, MN. Although the home is a little older than what we originally had intended to purchase, it had many upgrades and has been beautifully maintained. In an email from the house inspector to our realtor he described the home as, "the cleanest home I've seen in quite some time".  The closing date is on July 31st and we need to be out of our current place by August 31st. So we will undoubtedly have a busy August moving into our new home.

You can use this link to see some pictures of the house:
http://www.edinarealty.com/kath-hammerseng-realtor/homes-for-sale/MN/Blaine/55434/9818-Taylor-Court-NE-75998947/popup#listingphoto-gallery-large

*The link may stop working eventually, so below are some pics:

Front of the house

Kitchen

Main level living room

Basement family room

Deck