Elijah's Here!

I have not posted anything about Elijah's arrival and I will soon. But I wanted to put a few videos on here for family to see.

Nursery

Over Spring Break we were able to get the nursery ready to go. We went to IKEA and purchased a dresser that matches closely to the crib and changing table.

Nick and I designed and made his name letters to hang above the crib. We didn't have the bedding with us when we purchased the paint, but it pretty much matches right on.

Baby Shower #1

My third grade team hosted a wonderful shower for us at school. We got a lot of great, much needed things for Elijah.

Progress

Ok...so it's been a very long time and a LOT has happened since the last time I blogged...so instead of doing a lot of typing, I'll just post some pics. Like a picture book of our life. :)
Here are some photos of Elijah's growth.

28 weeks

I went for a checkup on Thursday. My blood pressure was great, weight was great, everything was great with me. Elijah was great too! :) His heart rate was 143. Even though I was only 28 weeks and 2 days, I am already measuring at 29 weeks. He's been moving around like crazy. This past week, the third grade team had a meeting to go to after school. Elijah started moving and kicking during the meeting and so my team got to watch my tummy move and see his kicks. Nick loves feeling and watching him too of course!! Last night was the first night Elijah woke me up from my sleep with his kicking. I didn't mind at all and I was so tired anyway that I fell right back to sleep. Here is an updated picture of me.

We ordered our crib and changing table last weekend. The changing table arrived yesterday and the crib will be here sometime this coming week. We also got a surprise from Grandma and Poppy Fishback. They gave Elijah the pack and play that we had picked out. It's cool to start getting things because now it's really coming together and starting to feel more real.

Another reason things are feeling more real is that we started our Lamaze class this past Monday. It's every Monday night for six weeks. We will be learning the whole relaxation thing along with breastfeeding and childcare. Another great perk to the class is that I get a 30 minute massage every Monday night!! Nick is going to be such a great support for me during labor and he is doing such a good job at easing my anxiety about labor. After class on Monday, Nick said he was getting really excited to meet Elijah. I completely agree!

To top of this week of exciting new things, my cousin Missy had her baby boy on Friday afternoon at 3:17. He weighed 8 lbs. and was 20 3/4 inches. I know the name, but since they haven't posted it on facebook yet, I don't want to give it away on here until they announce it to the whole world. Her water broke early in the morning on Friday and they went to the hospital. She hadn't started contractions so the doctor decided to start her on pitocin. The baby ended up moving around and was breech so they had to have a c-section. They are doing great as far as I know. :) I'm so happy for them!!

It's a BOY!!

It's been a while since I've been able to blog. We found out that we are having a baby boy. When we were waiting to go in for the ultrasound, Nick asked me if I would be disappointed if it wasn't a girl (because I seriously thought that's what it was going to be). I told him no and that I kind of wanted to be proved to be wrong so it'd be a surprise. Sure enough, I got my surprise and of course, proud daddy was thrilled (he would have been just as thrilled if it was a girl he says). :) His name is Elijah Cole. Here are some pictures of Baby Elijah:

We also traveled to Iowa and spent a week there. We were there during Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I was hoping that Nick would be able to feel Elijah kick for Christmas. Sure enough, on Christmas Eve, Nick got to feel it for the first time! It was great catching up with family and getting some time with my mom. I miss her a lot and leaving her this time was very difficult for me. I realized that the next time I would see her, I would either be in labor or have our baby and our lives would be completely different. She gave me a lot of great books to read about parenting and also gave me some advice as well. My dad had to spend a lot of time at work while we were visiting, but we had some more funny moments with him which was vowed to stay there! :) My brothers are getting to be all grown up now and having lots of girl drama. Boy oh boy am I glad my teenage years are over! I also saw my aunts which is always nice, and the cousins. Another special person I saw was my cousin Missy. She and I grew up together, being only a year apart in age and grade. We spent a lot of our childhood together and have lots of memories. Well, she also happens to be pregnant...about 10 weeks ahead of me. Here's the cool thing, we're both having boys!

Here is a photo of us with our baby bellies.

Isaac and his letter jacket

Nothing like a Christmas morning wrestling session

After a week in Iowa, we fought a snow storm to get to Indiana. We ended up having to stop in the middle of Illinois for the night, but we made it the next day nice and safe. The roads were horrible and so we both did a lot of praying! We had a good time visiting all of Nick's family. We got to stay with Nick's brother, Jared and his family. He and his wife, Kelly, have three girls who love their Uncle Nick a lot! Kelly also got us hooked on the New Mario Brothers for Wii, so I spent some Christmas money to buy that game to play down here as well. Our new nephew, Vincent is growing so fast. He'll be one on April 2nd. It'll be nice for Elijah to have Vincent to play with growing up. Our oldest nephew, Austin, is getting taller and taller! He recently discovered that he is a diabetic, so it's been an adjustment in his and his parents lives the past two months.

Austin

Jenna

Natalie

Lindsey

Vincent

Well, that about sums it up for the past month. What's next in our lives? Preparing the nursery and doing things around the house to prepare for Elijah's arrival. Should be busy, but a lot of fun! :) Elijah actually got quite a few Christmas presents this year. We also purchased the bedding for the crib so we've already got a start in prepping.

Elijah's Christmas presents

The bedding we picked out

I hope that every one of you who reads this had a great Christmas! May God bless your year to come!

Much to Look Forward To

We only have one more week of school left! Friday we get out of school early. My school's done at 12:15 and Nick's is done at 1:15. After that, it's off to our ultrasound to find out if we're having a boy or a girl!!

Saturday morning we will be getting up super early to make the 16 hour drive back up north to family! First stop- Iowa for a week, then off to Indiana for a week. Christmas is coming so fast and I'm so looking forward to it and all that it bring...closeness to our family!

I took the first pregnancy picture this past week. Thought I'd share it with all of you. This is me at 20 weeks and 2 days.